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Regional Program Priority
Issue Areas
Regional Initiatives
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Stormwater Management
in Your Backyard
 There
are 7,840 miles of rivers and streams in New Jersey which
have a variety of uses throughout the State. The rivers and
streams of New Jersey serve as water supplies for drinking
water, industry, and agriculture, and they provide us with
trout and warm-water fisheries, aquatic resources, recreation,
and wastewater disposal. Unfortunately, the waterways of New
Jersey, as with many other streams and rivers throughout the
country, have suffered from the legacy of chemical factories
and manufacturing operations, as well as from enormous suburban
growth and development. Based upon the New Jersey Department
of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) latest evaluation,
of the 2,308 assessed river miles, 1,913 river miles (i.e.,
83%) did not meet the surface water quality standards for
at least one parameter. Approximately 2,063 river miles were
assessed for recreational designated use attainment. Only
22% of the assessed sites were fully attaining and meeting
the standards for recreational activity. Of the 2,462 river
miles assessed for aquatic life designated uses, 815 miles
(i.e., 33%) did not support the use.
Not only is quality an issue, but the quantity of water is
at stake. In areas with the most rapid growth, development
has outpaced water supply, causing serious shortages. This
rapid development, coupled with the two consecutive years
of drought, resulted in groundwater levels and stream flows
well below normal levels. Private drinking water wells went
dry, and farmers had a difficult time sustaining their crops,
resulting in reduced yields and decreased profits.
 New
Jersey is facing serious water resource problems that can
only get worse as development continues at such a rapid pace
throughout the State. NJDEP has recently released new stormwater
management and permitting regulations. In the past, NJDEP’s
stormwater management rules only concentrated on controlling
flooding from large storm events. These new rules focus not
only on managing water quantity, but also on water quality
and groundwater recharge. Although these new rules will significantly
change the way New Jersey manages its stormwater runoff, the
rules only apply to new development. This leaves the stormwater
runoff impacts from existing developments only to be addressed
through the new municipal stormwater permit rules and the
implementation plans for the Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs).
The result will more than likely be voluntary programs that
may have little hope for success unless significant funding
can be allocated to support public outreach and education
programs centered on progressive stormwater management at
the community level.
 Cook
College and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station
(Cook/NJAES) have proposed a major initiative, The Garden
State Greening Initiative, to foster and promote environmental
interest, concern, and advocacy in New Jersey. The Garden
State Initiative will mobilize faculty and staff who
already work in environmental and extension related areas
at Cook/NJAES to more efficiently and effectively serve the
environmental needs of New Jersey. The Garden State Greening
Initiative will be managed as an “umbrella”
program that will be the uniting force of a number of envisioned
programmatic modules or projects will tackle important specific
issues, including but not limited to, training development
and delivery of public awareness programs, volunteer recruitment,
management and motivation, applied research and demonstrations
related to the program, program promotion, and overall impact
evaluation.
The following lessons from Stormwater
Management in Your Backyard, are one of the first programmatic
modules to be implemented under The Garden State Greening
Initiative.
Lesson
1: Stormwater 101
Lesson
2: Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs)
Lesson
3: Design & Implementation of
Stormwater BMPs - Technical & "Backyard" Guidance
Lesson
4: Rain Garden Maintenance
and
Long Term Success
Program
Overview:
Stormwater
Management in Your Backyard
Reference Manuals:
Rain
Gardens, A how-to manual for homeowners -
University of Wisconsin-Extension
Landscaped
Rain Gardens Offer Stormwater Control -
Nonpoint Source News-Notes, October 2001, Issue #66
The
New Jersey Stormwater Best Management Practices Manual,
Chapter 9.1 Standard for Bioretention Systems-
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
NJ Native
Plant Society Rain Garden Manual
An Introduction to Rain Gardens
Rain Gardens, Rutgers Cooperative Extension Fact Sheet #513, February 2006
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