Protecting a Watershed? by A. Jerome Walnut President of the Conservation Society of LBI

Alliance for a Living Ocean

2007 Long Beach Boulevard
North Beach Haven, New Jersey 08008
(609) 492-0222

Because the non-point problem stems from so many sources, it cannot be handily solved just by more pipes and sewage treatment plants. It must be caught at the source, by not putting contaminants on the ground in the first place, so that there will be nothing there to wash into the bay. The challenge here is that doing that requires the cooperation of virtually everyone in the watershed and entails changes in their daily behavior.

Some of the problem has been dealt with by Ocean County's very effective recycling program; by just taking certain elements out of the waste stream, this insures that they do not get into our waters and pollute the estuary. However, much remains to be done, and everyone can lend a helping hand.

Land-owners; large and small, can work strenuously to limit the amount of herbicides and/or pesticides they put on the land: and fertilizers as well. One should try first to control weeds and unwanted insects by mechanical means or natural enemies before turning to powerful chemicals, and then these should be used only in the smallest amounts that will do the job. A good alternative to the excessive use of fertilizer is to plant one's lawn and garden with native grasses, plants or shrubs. These come in a greater variety than one might suspect, they are adapted to our drought-like local conditions, and they require less care, fertilizer and watering then imported varieties.

Developers and land-owners can try to preserve a vegetative buffer strip between their built-up areas and adjacent streams. Studies of such buffer strips have shown that they do absorb and filter out pollutants, and they also slow down over-land flow so as to mitigate flooding to a degree. These are reasons why open, unspoiled wetlands are so important; they perform a vital natural function which could otherwise be very costly. Ideally, land-owners whose land is traversed by a stream could provide a vegetative corridor along that stream to prevent erosion, cut down on lawn area to be cared for, provide a miniature preserve for wildlife, and filter out pollutants. Large developments could do the same thing on a larger scale by surrounding each housing tract (or, shopping mall or office block) with its own "...Green Belt..." which would also enhance the scenery and cut down on air and noise pollution.

In general, land-owners and developers could work more vigorously to retain our natural vegetation and terrain. The more this is left alone to gently direct and filter out the natural over-land flow, the better off we shall be. There are some developments in Ocean County that have done this, and they make very pleasant places in which to live. There are even a few lots on Long Beach Island where this beneficial practice has been followed. So, all that one has to do is to clear and grade the immediate area where one's house and driveway are going to be and leave the rest pretty much alone. A massively intrusive approach is not really necessary.

In point of fact, we should all try to avoid damaging the natural drainage system wherever we can. This we can do in two ways. We can work to be sure that cans, bottles, trash and other objects that plug up stream flows do not get into our streams-and, by extension, the pipes that flow into them. And, we can work to preserve whatever areas of "...permeable..." surface that we have left. Houses, parking lots, stores and roads are all impermeable, they cannot absorb water, and consequently they impose a strain upon the drainage system. Natural open areas do absorb, slow down and-to a degree-filter water, and we would do well to preserve such areas even if they are very small.

It would be well to note that Barnegat Bay is very heavily-used, a great many people in thousands of boats per year want to enjoy it and everyone must work together to keep it clean. Not only does this involve boating safety, along with consideration for those who take their living from the bay, but it also means that people should observe the basic sanitary precept of not directly discharging any of their waste into Barnegat Bay or its tributaries.