Traveling by boat is one of the best ways to reap the salutary effects of blue spaces like the Raritan. The main stem of the Raritan offers over 75 paddling miles occasionally interrupted by dams and weirs with the first (Island Farm Weir) approximately 20 miles upstream from the river’s mouth in Perth Amboy. Getting […]
Stormwater basins are meant to protect downstream areas from flooding and erosion by capturing and then slowly releasing rainwater and melting snows. They generally take the form of retention basins, detention basins, infiltration basins or some hybrid of these. Retention basins have an outlet higher than the base elevation of the basin and may retain […]
Much of the older urban development in the Raritan Basin was not designed to route runoff through stormwater management basins. Instead, the stormwater drainage systems collect runoff from dwelling roofs, yards, driveways and streets (i.e., on-street storm sewer grates) and discharge it directly into the nearest stream (i.e., at an outfall) with no treatment. River […]
Culverts, constructed of concrete, brick/clay, iron, corrugated steel and corrugated aluminum, are commonly used to enable stream crossings for roadways. If not properly positioned, sized and maintained, they can impede fish passage, restrict stream flows, increase stream velocity, become clogged with debris and sediment, increase the likelihood of contaminated road runoff entering waterways, and generally […]
Bridges can impact quality of life on the Raritan in a number of ways. They may be a direct source of potentially contaminated runoff, bridge structures may impede boat travel along the river, or the structures may capture debris during high flows and exacerbate local flooding. Many bridge surfaces drain directly to water bodies they […]
With its history of industry and farming, dams were built on the Raritan and its tributaries since the 1600s to supply water for private and municipal use, for agriculture, hydropower, water supply (canal), navigation (canal), fire suppression, to power mills, and for recreation including fishing, boating, and swimming. While some dams continue to serve specific […]
The compilation of restoration projects summarized in this section came out of a partnership with the NJDEP’s Bureau of Environmental Analysis, Restoration and Standards (NJDEP-BEARS) to assist them in conducting stakeholder engagement for their 2016 Integrated Water Quality Assessment Report that has a focus on the Raritan River watershed. While the NJDEP had captured information […]
The impact of population on water quality is inevitable as people use water to bathe, cook, wash clothes, process waste, water lawns and gardens, for recreation, in agriculture, and for industry. Water quality degrades after most uses. As populations grow, water usage increases leading to further negative impacts on water quality. Additionally, population increase tends […]
Increases in population often coincide with increases in housing units that can increase impervious surface cover in the form of new roads, parking lots, and residential rooftops. During rainfall, these areas generate runoff quicker than undeveloped surfaces and can transport nonpoint source pollutants into the nearest waterbody. Increases in nonpoint source pollutants pose a threat […]
Land use is one of the fundamental components that needs to be looked at consistently for maintaining proper water quality in the watershed. Increasing population growth along with growing economic activities creates enormous pressure on land uses resulting in land use changes. Land use change can have positive or negative impacts on water quality depending […]
