The South Jersey Land and Water Trust announced in July that they have been awarded $180,196, to develop a Watershed Restoration and Protection Plan for the Oldman’s Creek and Raccoon Creek watersheds, listed as priority waterways by the DEP due to impairments. The award was part of the more than $9.4 million awarded by the Department of Environmental Protection to organizations throughout the state in for projects to improve water quality and “reduce impacts of climate change”.
Funding for these projects was provided through Section 319(h) of the federal Clean Water Act, and other source, including the New Jersey Corporation Business Tax. The projects will help reduce the impacts of nonpoint source pollution, which is caused by stormwater runoff that carries a wide variety of pollutants into waterways, including nutrients from fertilizers, animal wastes and improperly operating septic systems.
DEP also awarded $1,506,131 to the Camden Community Partnership to design and construct bioretention basins along the Harrison Avenue-State Street corridor, improving water quality in the Cooper River through removal of total suspended solids and nutrients.