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NJDEP Monitoring in the Delaware Estuary

NJ Department of Environmental Protection's Water Monitoring & Standards program ensures the monitoring of the Delaware Estuary, including coliform bacteria, phytoplankton, pathogen monitoring, spill response monitoring, ecosystem health, coastal monitoring network, and watershed monitoring.

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NJDEP Monitoring in the Delaware Estuary

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  1. NJDEP Monitoring in the Delaware Estuary NJ Department of Environmental Protection Water Monitoring & Standards

  2. Monitoring to Protect Public Health

  3. National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP) NJDEP, WM&S, Bureau of Marine Water Monitoring • Required by NJ Statute • Required for interstate sale and shipment of shellfish harvested in NJ • Annual program review by USFDA

  4. NJ Oyster beds in the Delaware Estuary

  5. Coliform bacteria monitoring • Over 200 stations in Delaware Bay • Sampled 5-12x/year • Total coliform bacteria • Fecal coliform bacteria • Data Management: USEPA STORET

  6. Phytoplankton monitoring • Required by NSSP to monitor for toxic species • Fixed station monitoring for phytoplankton and chlorophyll a.

  7. Phytoplankton monitoring • Pilot Study (NOAA, NASA, NJDEP) • Currently testing remote sensing equipment for routine deployment (USEPA Reg 2, NJDEP

  8. Pathogen monitoring (Vibrio parahaemolyticus) • 18 illnesses attributed to NJ • Temporary closure of NJ industry in 2002 and 2005 • Non-traditional pathogen - naturally occurring • Non-traditional monitoring - gene probe method used. • Organism is temperature and salinity dependent.

  9. Spill Response Monitoring: Oyster tissue PAH & Metals tested 2 weeks & 2 months after spill.

  10. Ecosystem Health “U.S. ocean and coastal resources should be managed to reflect the relationships among all ecosystem components, including human and nonhuman species and the environments in which they live.” U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy

  11. NJ Coastal Monitoring Network • Traditional measures of water quality • Temperature • Salinity • Transparency • Suspended Solids • Dissolved Oxygen • Nutrients • Chlorophyll • Enterococcus • Data Management: USEPA STORET

  12. Partners in providing real-time coastal water quality monitoring: • NJDEP • EPA Region 2 • Barnegat Estuary Program • Rutgers IMCS 3 Sensors currently operating. All 6 will be operational in 2005. Measuring temperature, salinity, DO, pH, turbidity and chlorophyll a.

  13. National Coastal Assessment • Expanded suite of parameters to include • Sediment texture • Sediment chemistry /toxicity • Benthic diversity • Fish assemblage • Data Management: USEPA STORET

  14. NCA Partners • USEPA AED • USEPA Region 2 • DRBC - handling mainstem monitoring and coordinating NJ & DE efforts • NJMSC - handled field operations (2000 - 2004)

  15. Use of NCA Data by NJDEP • Data currently being used to assess ecosystem health in NJ/NY Harbor • Working with EPA AED, EPA Reg 2, Rutgers IMCS to develop similar indices for other NJ bays and to expand NCA into nearshore ocean waters.

  16. Watershed Monitoring

  17. Freshwater Ambient Biological Network NJDEP - WM&S - Bureau of Freshwater & Biological Monitoring • Benthic macroinvertebrates assessed. • Sampling stations above the head of tide. • Metrics applied to assess degree of ecosystem impairment. • Data Management USEPA STORET

  18. Freshwater Chemical Monitoring Network NJDEP - WM&S - Bureau of Freshwater & Biological Monitoring Data Management: USEPA STORET USGS NWIS

  19. Lower Delaware Watershed NPS Monitoring Goal: to characterize pollutant loads associated with predominant land uses in the lower Delaware Watershed for use in TMDL modeling. NJDEP - Watershed Mgmt NJDEP - Water Mon. & Stds USGS

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