Water Quality

"It's starting to rain, I have to go out to program the stream samplers."

"Where are my hip boots? I'm going out to collect base flow samples"

"Where's my raincoat I have to go take flow measurements."

These are just some of the comments the Great Swamp Watershed Association's "Stream Team" volunteers are prone to muttering as they get ready to head out into anything from a light drizzle to the fury of Hurricane Floyd. Yet the volunteers who actually collect water samples and measure the flow conditions in the five streams that feed the Great Swamp think this work is not only important, but fun, too!

Since 1998, and in conjunction with the Ten Towns Great Swamp Watershed Management Committee, Stream Team volunteers have been monitoring the water quality and quantity of the five main tributaries of the Great Swamp: the Black, Loantaka, Great, and Primrose Brooks, and the Upper Passaic River. The primary goal of the Stream Monitoring program is to measure the volume of water, nutrients and sediments flowing into the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The nutrients of concern, nitrogen and phosphorus, are naturally occurring substances that are necessary for plant growth. However, when large quantities of nitrogen and phosphorous are introduced into a water system, they become pollutants because they can contribute to excessive plant growth, often referred to as eutrophication. Together with increased sediment deposition, eutrophication accelerates the filling-in of the small ponds and wetlands within the Refuge, damaging the swamp's resident flora and fauna and ultimately altering the larger ecosystem in which they live.

The Stream Team's work formed the basis for the development of the first-ever water quality standards for the Great Swamp watershed, released in June 2002 as the Great Swamp Watershed Water Quality Monitoring Report. These water quality standards will help scientists, policy makers, and local officials protect the high quality streams from further degradation, as well as prioritize the more degraded streams for restoration efforts. The long-term goal is to improve the overall water quality that sustains the flora and fauna of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and the Passaic River, which serves as a source of drinking water for 1.2 million New Jersey residents.

Additional study by professors and students from Drew University, the College of St. Elizabeth, and Fairleigh Dickinson University is augmenting the Stream Teams' efforts and contributing to the larger picture of Great Swamp stream health. Drew University's Dr. Lee Pollock is studying the number and variety of the small invertebrate creatures that live under the rocks and in the sandy bottoms of each stream. These creatures, called macro-invertebrates (or MIVs), are excellent indicators of the water quality of a stream ( standards). Dr. Robin Timmons, also of Drew University, provides statistical analyses of our stream monitoring results and archives all the data. Dr. Neil Borman and his students from the College of St. Elizabeth are measuring levels of E. coli bacteria along Loantaka Brook, including Kitchell Pond. And Dr. Paul Benzing of Fairleigh Dickinson University is studying the role Kitchell Pond plays in storing and releasing phosphorus.

All of this data helps to generate a picture of the overall health of our streams, the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and our environment in general. This evolving source of information can be of great use to homeowners and local environmental commissions and planning boards charged with managing the impacts of development and urban sprawl.

To learn more about the Great Swamp watershed and each of the five streams, or the one closest to your home, visit the page devoted to it on this website.

Watersheds and Sub Watersheds