Wallkill River Watershed
                                                         
Management Group

UPCOMING MEETINGS & EVENTS

For More Information:
Call 973-579-6998 x 109

Welcome to the Home of the Wallkill River Watershed 
Management Group

 
PICTURE OF THE MONTH 
Can you guess the location of this photograph? Contact nsajdak@scmua.org with your guesses.

Hint #1: Western Sussex County
Hint #2: NJ Fish & Wildlife Public Fishing Access

WHAT IS A WATERSHED?

WHAT IS THE WALLKILL RIVER WATERSHED MANAGEMENT GROUP?

VIEW "REAL TIME" STREAM FLOWS FROM THE WATERSHED

Papakating Creek @ Pelletown Road, Frankford
East Branch Paulins Kill @ Garrison Road, Lafayette

2008 GENERAL PROJECT  UPDATE 

MAJOR PROJECT ANNOUNCEMENT

CLOVE ACRES LAKE / CLOVE BROOK & PAPAKATING CREEK WATERSHED RESTORATION PLANS APPROVED!! 

WATERSHED RESTORATION PLANs FOR THE CLove Acres Lake / 
Clove Brook AND PAPAKATING CREEK Watersheds APPROVED  BY NJDEP
 JANUARY 2009

For the past three years, the Wallkill River Watershed Management Group (WRWMG), under the fiscal guidance of the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority (SCMUA), and with assistance from partners such as Princeton Hydro, LLC., HydroQual, Inc., Garden State Laboratories, Inc., and the Sussex County Office of GIS Management, has worked to successfully coordinate and facilitate the development of two separate, but intertwined Watershed Restoration Plans for the Clove Acres Lake / Clove Brook and Papakating Creek Watersheds. Both Plans provide a comprehensive characterization and assessment of the watershed areas and offer a detailed set of recommendations for restoration and management strategies and techniques which, when implemented will achieve federally mandated pollutant loading reductions, achieve surface water quality standards, and ultimately enhance and protect the water quality of the watershed.  

The WRWMG is extremely proud and excited to announce that the NJDEP has recently informed us that they have reviewed both Plans and formally approved both of them as "Watershed Based Implementation Plans". These approvals now make both Plans eligible for various NJDEP grant funding opportunities for project implementation.

Click here to view and electronic copy of the Clove Acres Lake / Clove Brook Watershed Restoration Plan or the Papakating Creek Watershed Restoration Plan. Please contact the WRWMG by phone at 973-579-6998 x 109 or x 111, or by email at nsajdak@scmua.org or ehofer@scmua.org if you would like to receive an official hard copy of the Plan. 

Visit the WRWMG's Watershed Restoration Plan Development Page to learn more about the Watershed Restoration Plans for the Papakating Creek, Clove Brook, and Paulins Kill Watersheds.

OTHER CURRENT NEWS
UPDATED February 2009 

Streambank Restoration and Stabilization Projects Completed along the Wallkill River at Route 565 and Bassetts Bridge 

WRWMG Assists Swartswood State Park with the Development of a swartswood lake Water trail

Swartswood State Park, with the assistance of the WRWMG, and through a grant funded by the NJDEP, has just recently released a self-guided Interpretive Water Trail map which is designed to escort you to 15 different sites around the lake, provide you with a brief description of their significance, and ultimately help you learn about the rich natural, cultural, and historical resources found within and around the lake. Swartswood State Park is located on the shores of both Swartswood and Little Swartswood Lakes, and straddles the municipal boundary between Hampton and Stillwater Townships . The Park was established in 1915 as New Jersey ’s first state park, and is open to seasonal and year-round activities such as camping, swimming, fishing, boating, hunting, picnicking, sailing, wildlife viewing, hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, snow shoeing, and horseback riding.

For more information, or to learn how to obtain a copy of the Water Trail, contact the  Park Office at 973-383-5230.

WRWMG and the SCMUA receives additional Grant Funding Award from NJDEP for the Paulins Kill 
  (Summer 2008)

NJDEP’s Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson has recently announced the awarding of $3.2 million in grants to local groups and government entities to fund “projects to improve the health of New Jersey ’s waterways.  Specifically included in that announcement was the awarding of $557,776 to the SCMUA and the WRWMG to support the continuation, completion, as well as eventual implementation of the Watershed Restoration Plan for the Paulins Kill Headwaters to Balesville. Up until this point, enough funding had only been secured to conduct the first year of three for the Paulins Kill Project. Plans for continuing the efforts were contingent upon additional funding becoming available.  This announcement not only secured those additional funds, but also showed the NJDEP’s true recognition of the WRWMG as a valuable watershed management organization capable of achieving water quality improvement success. The Paulins Kill Restoration Plan is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

Paulins Kill @ Balesville, Hampton Township, New Jersey

WRWMG KICKS-OFF PAULINS KILL WATER QUALITY SAMPLING PROGRAM
  (Spring 2008)

                               

On March 18, 2008 the WRWMG officially initiated an NJDEP approved comprehensive chemical and biological sampling program for the Paulins Kill by collecting samples from eleven (11) different sampling stations throughout the headwaters stretch of the river from Fox Hollow Lake to Balesville. The program, which is being conducted as part of the WRWMG's new grant project to develop a Watershed Restoration Plan for the Paulins Kill Headwaters to Balesville, will include sampling up to 15 different stations, on a monthly basis, for a one year period. Examples of data parameters to sampled include stream flow, water temperature, pH, total phosphorus, ortho/dissolved phosphorus, total dissolved solids, and E.coli. To date, four rounds of sampling have been conducted with Round #5 scheduled for late August.  

For a map of the approved sampling locations, click the following link: 
Paulins Kill Sampling Program Locations

COMING SOON!!!!

A Self-Guided Auto Tour of the
 Wallkill River Watershed 

Click Here for an Informational Flyer

Wallkill River Watershed Management Group (WRWMG)

Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority (SCMUA)

34 South Route 94

Lafayette, NJ 07848

(973)-579-6998 x 109

nsajdak@scmua.org