By Michele Byers
Barnegat Bay, a favorite destination in this state we’re in, is famous for crabbing, fishing, swimming, sailing and boating.
But in recent years, Barnegat Bay has been in decline. For decades, scientists have warned that an overload of nutrients — specifically, nitrogen and phosphorus found in fertilizers and also acid rain — is choking the bay.
New Jersey’s Senate and Assembly Environment Committees just held a hearing in Toms River about the state of the bay’s health. Overwhelming evidence shows nutrients entering the bay pose an increasingly dire threat.
Rutgers University scientist Michael Kennish presented an updated report showing that environmental degradation of the bay has worsened over the past two years, and excessive nutrients are still to blame.
The main problem is lawn fertilizers running into the bay during rainstorms. You might think lawns are porous and would absorb these nutrients, but that’s not the case.
Nearly all lawns exist on soils that have been so compacted by construction, mowing and recreation they function like pavement. Most of what’s applied to lawns in Ocean County — which makes up virtually the entire Barnegat Bay watershed — ultimately winds its way into the bay.
There also is a significant amount of nitrogen in the summer thunderstorms that blow in from the Midwest where coal-burning power plants are still abundant. Nitrogen falls with the acid rain and quickly flows into the bay through storm sewers.
Coastal scientists describe the bay as “highly eutrophic,” a condition caused by high levels of nutrients. This results in low dissolved oxygen levels in the water, harmful algae blooms, a loss of marine habitats and decreased abundance of hardshell clams and many other popular aquatic species.
Here are three things needed to restore Barnegat Bay’s health:
• The state Department of Environmental Protection should declare it an “impaired” waterway under the Clean Water Act, which would require the state to restrict the amount of nutrients allowed in the bay and put it on a restricted pollution diet.
This was suggested in the past, but Gov. Christie vetoed it. The governor did sign a law limiting the nutrients in fertilizers sold in New Jersey and cutting the amounts that can be used on lawns.
That step should reduce nutrients entering the bay, but the law is too new to fully evaluate its impact. And by itself it’s not enough.
• Keep preserving land in the bay’s watershed.
Thanks to the Pinelands Protection Act, the state Green Acres Program and the federal Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, 57 percent of the watershed is preserved. The Ocean County Natural Lands Trust also has preserved significant forested land.
But most of the lands immediately adjacent to the northern half of Barnegat Bay are intensely developed. So pristine headwater streams begin in natural lands, but pick up massive amounts of pollutants as they enter the bay.
• The DEP is now rewriting its rules that govern land use in our coastal communities. This is the perfect chance to promote soil restoration and restrict nutrients.
Unfortunately, the proposed new rules ignore studies showing lawns to be hard, compacted, impervious surfaces. Instead, the rules define them as “porous” surfaces. The rules need to be written to provide real protections for the bay!
”We now have the science to show us how to restore the bay, and we understand how available approaches and strategies can effectively implement the scientific findings” says Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, a coastal conservation organization based in Highlands. “We need the governor and the DEP to put these tools into place, and adopt clean water designations, land use rules and policies to save the bay.”
You can take action to help Barnegat Bay! Please sign a petition asking the DEP to declare it an “impaired” waterway, which will lead to greater protections.
Go to www.littoralsociety.org/index.php/21-action-alerts/245-sign-the-petition-to-protect-barnegat-bay.
For a wealth of information on Barnegat Bay’s ecosystem and the work being done to protect and restore it, visit the Save Barnegat Bay website at www.savebarnegatbay.org.
Michele Byers is executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. For more information, contact her at [email protected] or visit NJCF’s website at www.njconservation.org.
