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Visions for the Whippany Watershed

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Visions for the Whippany Watershed Whippany River Watershed Action Committee Visions for the Whippany Watershed 2010/2011 Annual Report The Whippany River Better Stormwater Management in Parsippany serves the only signifi- cant unconsolidated The Whippany River Watershed Action ―The WRWAC’s mission is to preserve, aquifer in northern New Committee (WRWAC) has been protect and maintain the land and water Jersey, the Buried Val- ley Aquifer system. awarded an $185,000 grant for the de- resources of the Whippany River Water- sign, engineering and monitoring of im- shed and to enhance the quality of this WRWAC has been rec- provements to stormwater run-off at the valuable resource,‖ states WRWAC Fa- ognized with the Parsippany-Troy Hills Township Police cilitator Art Vespignani. ―The Whippany USEPAs 2001 Environ- Station and Municipal Court complex. River Watershed supplies drinking water mental Quality Award to hundreds of thousands of people and NJDEPs 2002 Envi- The coveted Green Infrastructure Grant, downstream and also aids in the replen- ronmental Excellence under the auspices of the New England ishment of local aquifers.‖ Award Interstate Water Pollution Control Com- mission (NEIWPCC), was applied for by ―The Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills several state organizations. is honored that the NEIWPCC grant will be used to remedy stormwater runoff at Inside this issue: The WRWAC’s winning proposal will our police station and municipal court retrofit the existing parking lot with three complex,‖ states Mayor Jamie Barberio. NPS Grant 2 Filterra units. These units will be inserted ―We are always looking for ways to make into the existing stormwater collection our township more ecologically friendly.‖ system and will filter runoff before it reaches Troy Brook. This is a green in- The project, scheduled for completion in Geese 2 frastructure stormwater management the summer of 2012, is a joint coopera- technique, designed to better manage tive effort of the WRWAC, the Township and improve stormwater runoff making it of Parsippany Troy-Hills, Princeton Hy- Trends 3 more efficient and green-friendly. The dro, and the Rutgers Cooperative Exten- parking lot is located on Route 46 East sion of Morris County. in Parsippany. Troy Brook 3 New Look to the Annual Report Map 4 Our yearly two page 8‖x14‖ folded bro- and to residents of the 16 municipalities chure of bullet points has grown to eight that make up the Whippany River Water- pages of news and highlights of the past shed, as well as to other non-profit wa- 4 year. Readers can easily learn about the tershed organizations and funding agen- Black Brook efforts of the past year and get a good cies. sense of the role of our watershed or- ganization in Morris County, New Jersey. The annual report describes how the Speedwell 5 efforts of WRWAC are making a differ- This report gives a summary of ence through broad based community WRWAC’s program to our members, action, implementation of projects, ongo- made up of governing bodies of member ing assessment and promotion of re- Outreach 6 municipalities and their representatives, source conservation. Activities Page 2 Visions for the Whippany Watershed Reducing Non-Point Source Pollution Understanding the cause and source of bac- Jersey, prepared cost estimates and con- terial contamination in the Whippany River is ducted field sampling. Program Committee: a goal of the program committee. In 2008, the New Jersey Department of Environmental The Morris County Board of Chosen Free- holders, historically strong supporters of the George Van Orden, chairman, Protection (NJDEP) awarded a $617,100.00 WRWAC’s mission and projects, gave pre- Madison grant to the WRWAC to study non-point source pollution in the Whippany River and to liminary approval. Princeton Hydro prepared Sal Iannaccone, Hanover implement a project designed to reduce fecal designs. Meetings were held with County coliform concentrations. officials to work out details of the project. It is Brian Marshall, Mountain Lakes anticipated that bids will be taken in early In December 2009, the DEP approved retro- 2011, a construction contract awarded, and Ralph Rhodes, Mendham Town- fitting sites located in Morris Township and the project well on its way to completion. ship Parsippany as bioretention basins. These sites are located on W. Hanover Avenue at Wet weather water testing and sampling at Hank Sawoski, Morris Plains the county owned Morris View Nursing Home the eight assessment sites are still underway and the Morris County Public Safety Training through the remainder of the grant cycle. Academy. Information gleaned from the reports will sup- ply the committee with more data to combat Starting in early 2010, work began to imple- fecal coliform concentrations in the river sys- ment these projects. The WRWAC’s consult- tem. The Whippany River ing firm, Princeton Hydro of Ringoes, New Watershed Management Group is recognized by NJDEP as the entity representing the various Goose Damage Management Workshop interests within the Whippany Watershed A Goose Damage Management Workshop age and community-based education. The whose purpose is to sponsored by the Whippany Watershed Ac- ultimate goal is to reduce goose damage to improve the condition or tion Committee was held on March 25 at the parks, campuses, water bodies and other prevent further degradation Haggerty Education Center Auditorium lo- public and private lands. of the watershed. cated on the grounds of the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown, New Jersey. The Many officials and employees from Morris workshop featured several prominent speak- County, and municipalities around Morris ers and discussed goose damage manage- County attended. The workshop was open to ment techniques that have proven to be suc- the public, and included a continental break- cessful. These included habitat modification, fast. oiling and addling, dog patrols, no feed sign- Volunteers Work Towards Sustainable Goose Populations Action Committee volunteers are making a trained and join the pool of volunteers splash when it comes to goose management. needed to control geese on a regional basis. A number of WRWAC members are trained by Geese Peace as egg addlers, and have Another member reports regularly to the actively managed many nesting sites in the committee with goose counts taken at 17 Morristown area, using integrated strategies different locations throughout the watershed. to keep the goose population at bay while Big numbers have been showing up, as well respecting wildlife’s right to life. as lower numbers where goose control meth- ods are occurring. Results of 2010 efforts: 62 nests were identi- Promote fied and 300 eggs were addled. It is hoped The efforts of these volunteers are invaluable that in the near future more volunteers from no - feeding in our mission to understand and attempt to surrounding municipalities will become control non-point source pollution in the of waterfowl Whippany River Watershed. Page 3 Morris County Freeholders Continue Funding Trend Analysis The Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders allocated temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and conductivity which $9,000 to WRWAC in 2010 to continue the trends analysis were determined in the field, and carbonaceous 5 day bio- sampling and data collection project that has been ongoing chemical oxygen demand (CBOD-5) , total Kjeldahl Nitro- since the 1990s. The information provided by this study will gen (TKN), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), nitrite nitrogen provide a continuous flow of important measurements to (NO2-N), orthophosphorus (ortho-P), total phosphorus insure the improvement of the water quality of the Whippany (Total-P) total suspended solids (TDS), total alkalinity, chlo- River. rophyll A, fecal coliform and enterococcus. Water quality data was taken from 5 locations along the Water quality improvements observed over time during dry Whippany River in August during dry weather conditions. weather conditions most likely reflect upgrades made in Two more sampling events were scheduled but postponed wastewater treatment and active watershed management due to unfavorable weather conditions and will be sched- techniques. The results of the sampling will be available in a uled for 2011. Water quality parameters analyzed include report after completing and analyzing the sampling. Troy Brook Regional Stormwater Management Plan The Troy Brook watershed, located within the larger Whip- Road, a portion of the upper parking lot was fitted with pervi- pany River Watershed, is approximately 16 mi2, with 24 ous pavement, surrounding the catch basins. This allowed miles of river and more than 400 acres of lakes, including drainage of the parking lot without the cost of retrofitting the Lake Parsippany and Mountain Lake. entire parking lot. In 2007 a Regional Stormwater Management Plan was de- In the Hills of Troy Neighborhood in Parsippany (across the veloped by Rutgers Water Resources Program (Obropta and stream from the Parsippany DPW) five residences were se- Goodrow 2007) under the New Jersey Stormwater Rules lected to have rain gardens installed. The neighborhood was (N.J.A.C. 7:8). Based upon the New Jersey Department of canvassed and provided with educational literature on rain Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP’s) decision not to pro- gardens and the Troy Brook stormwater plan and five resi- ceed with the regulatory components of the Regional Storm- dences were selected to receive the rain gardens. Mainte- water rules at that time, the Plan was divided into Plan A nance manuals were developed specific to the project. (Regulatory- still awaiting NJDEP review) and Plan B (voluntary – reviewed and approved as a watershed plan to Work is scheduled to be completed at the Tivoli Garden address stormwater in the Troy Brook Watershed. Apartment Complex and The Parsippany-Troy Hills DPW in Spring 2011. The Tivoli Garden Complex will have rain gar- Under the approved Plan B, Rutgers Cooperative Extension den and a step-drop bioinfiltration system installed this has received grant funding from the NJDEP to begin to im- spring. The DPW will have a cascading set of rain gardens plement the Approved Watershed plan.
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