One thing that you can do is encourage your municipality to pass a resolution requesting that the Governor of New Jersey and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection release an update to the New Jersey Water Supply Master Plan immediately for public review and comment and, following such comment, finalize, adopt and implement the Plan.
Your municipality can then follow up by sending a letter to the Governor’s office, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and to our New Jersey Assembly and Senate members alerting them to our concerns about the lack of a current Water Supply Plan in New Jersey.
Here is a sample resolution.
Here are suggested sources for more information on regional planning, forests and water:
Conservation at Home
- Check out these tips from South Jersey Water Savers – a joint program of the American Littoral Society, the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, NJ Department of Environmental Protection, Rutgers Cooperative Extension and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.
Landscaping
- Planting native plants is incredibly important. Using native plants in your yard greatly reduces the amount of water used and the need for fertilizers.
- Gardening with Nature in the Pinelands – a full color guide
- Learn how to have a Jersey Friendly Yard at www.jerseyyards.org
Regional Planning
- The Highlands: Critical Resources, Treasured Landscapes, edited by Prof. Richard Lathrop (Rutgers University). Rutgers University Press (2011). Each chapter in this book is written by a different researcher and it examines the landscape of this region so important as open space and a source of drinking water for over fifteen million people.
- Regional Planning for a Sustainable America, edited with an introduction and conclusion by Carleton Montgomery (executive director of Pinelands Preservation Alliance), Rutgers University Press (2011). The web site www.regionalplans.net complements the book and offers the book for sale, with proceeds supporting the Pinelands Preservation Alliance.
Forests and Water
- Forests, Water and People: Drinking water supply and forest lands in the Northeast and Midwest United States, by Barnes, M.C., A.H. Todd, R.W. Lilja, and P.K. Barten. 2009. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry (2009).
- The Nature and Value of Ecosystem Services: An Overview Highlighting Hydrologic Services, by Brauman, K.A., G.C. Daily, T. Ka’eo Duarte, and H.A. Mooney. 2007. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 32:67-98.
- Running Pure: The importance of forest protected areas to drinking water, by Dudley, N. and S. Stolton. World Bank/World Wildlife Fund Alliance for Forest Conservation and Sustainable Use (2003).
- Protecting the Source: Land Conservation and the Future of America’s Drinking Water, by Ernst, C. The Trust for Public Land and the American Water Works Association (2004).
Green Infrastructure
- NYC Green Infrastructure Plan, New York City. 2010.
- Rooftops to Rivers: Green Strategies for Controlling Stormwater and Combined Sewer Outfalls. NRDC (2006).
- Philadelphia Green Stormwater Infrastructure Project web site.
- USEPA Green Infrastructure web site.
Recreation