Characterizing agricultural lands in a coastal watershed for a
regional stormwater management plan Cara Muscio, Marine Agent Bill
Sciariappa and Brian Hulme Rutgers Cooperative Research &
Extension Slide 2 Our Mission Integrating teaching, research, and
outreach to anticipate and respond to issues and challenges in
agriculture, food systems, environment and natural resources, and
human and community health and development, in order to empower
people to improve their lives, the lives of others, and the
environments on which they depend. Who We Are A partnership between
Rutgers University and NJ Counties Operating through The New Jersey
Agricultural Experiment Station Slide 3 New Jersey Watersheds NJ is
separated into 21 Watershed Management Areas (WMA) The Wreck Pond
Brook Watershed is in WMA-12 in Coastal Monmouth County The
watershed is about 12 square miles, and contains parts of 4
municipalities: Wall Township, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights,
and Sea Girt. It has about 1000 acres of farmland, And 500 acres of
parks and rec. land Slide 4 Map Slide 5 The Big Issue Water quality
degradation of Wreck Pond Bacteria levels at local beaches are
impacted by Wreck Pond stormwater discharge Slide 6 Take normal
data, add water Slide 7 Governors 2005 Coastal Initiative FIX
IT!!!! Slide 8 Steps toward a solution Formation of the Wreck Pond
Brook Regional Stormwater Management Committee Characterizing the
watershed: identifying and investigating potential problems Writing
a regional stormwater management plan, choosing and implementing
Best Management Plan Projects Slide 9 Committee Partners Monmouth
County (MC) Planning Board, Lead Planning Agency Township of Wall,
Boroughs of Spring Lake Heights, Spring Lake, and Sea Girt NJ
Department of Agriculture State Soil Conservation Committee Erosion
Control Bureau NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP)
Bureau of Watershed Regulation NJDEP Bureau of Engineering and
Construction South Monmouth Regional Sewerage Authority (SMRSA) MC
Mosquito Extermination Commission Freehold Soil Conservation
District Monmouth University U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wreck
Pond Watershed Association Spring Lake Golf Club Fairway Mews Golf
Course MC Health Department MC Engineering Department MC Planning
Board Engineering Section MC GIS Management Office Rutgers
Cooperative Research and Extension Najarian Associates NJDEP
Watershed Ambassador, WMA-12 Slide 10 Characterizing Agriculture
Slide 11 RCRE Agricultural Lands Assessment Identification of farms
within the watershed Characterization of farm land and practices
Monitoring and determination of water quality issues and impact
Planning Best Management Practices and demonstrations Education and
Outreach Slide 12 GIS Work Assess land character Check land
use/land cover Slide 13 Results of GIS Work Compiled Landowner
Information 114 Agricultural parcels on 1997 LULC, Wreck pond
watershed 55 parcels within 500 feet of a Wreck Pond water body
Further inspection shows land use changes 95 Qualified Farms Tax
assessed 2000, 1997 ALL of Wall Twp Reduced to 86 Owners in 2005
all of Wall 49 owners within 500 feet of a Wreck Pond water body
(2000) Slide 14 Survey Mailed to 49 owners Post office returned 3
Owners returned 19 Called 14 more to follow up Got 1 more response
For a total of 20 responses Or 43% response rate Slide 15 Survey
Results Most owners farm between 5-20 acres Use totals over 100%,
growing multiple commodities Most owners grew some vegetable/grain
crops Only 2 owners used manure as a nutrient addition Total of 30%
had manure on their properties Slide 16 Domestic Animals 22% of
owners 220 animals One didnt specify Slide 17 Water Quality
Monitoring RSWMP conducting: Fecal Coliform sampling Bacterial
Source Tracking Weather Station Monitoring How can RCRE help? Slide
18 Nutrients and water quality A YSI 6600 is used to collect: Water
Temperature, F/C pH, std. Conductivity, us/cm Dissolved Oxygen,
mg/L Nitrate, mg/L Turbidity, NTU Chlorophyll, ug/L A Hach Pocket
CalorimeterII Is used to collect: orthophosphate, mg/L Total
Phosphorus, mg/L Slide 19 Baseline Water Quality Data* Slide 20
Nitrate concentrations Precipitation: 4 inches in Nov. on
waterlogged soils Slide 21 Phosphate Concentrations Slide 22
Macroinvertebrate Sampling Sampled June 29, 2006 Continued sampling
July and August Longer term snapshot of water quality Sensitive vs.
tolerant bugs Slide 23 A simple analysis Slide 24 Phase Two Work
Farm tours with identified landowners Wet weather and expanded
sampling Demonstration Projects and BMPs Education and Outreach for
farmers and general public Connecting the dots Slide 25 Take Home
At least 23 organizations of all varieties are donating time,
effort, supplies, and staff to the RSWMP The collected body of data
will allow for a much more in-depth characterization of the
watershed In this era of tight to no funding: Partnerships which
utilize the strengths of each organization can help get important
work done more comprehensively Stay tuned. Slide 26
Acknowledgements Bill Sciarappa and Brian Hulme, RCRE of Monmouth
County Tom Kellers, Chair, Wreck Pond RSWMP The RSWMP Committee
Monmouth County GIS Slide 27 Questions or comments? Ocean County
RCRE Web Site: http://ocean.rcre.rutgers.edu
