WATER RESOURCES POLICY OFFICE

Joseph Mattle, Manager
(609) 633-1981

The Water Resources Policy Office was created within the Division of Watershed Management to provide support for the Division's comprehensive water resource management program goal of ensuring "clean and plentiful water" for the residents of New Jersey and their descendants. The Water Resource Policy Office coordinates the revision of New Jersey's Statewide Water Supply Plan, provides support to the Water Supply Advisory Council and provides water supply policy input on State and regional water supply plans to ensure that these State and regional water supply plans are consistent with the Department's policies.

The New Jersey Statewide Water Supply Plan (NJSWSP) and its periodic revision are mandated by the 1981 Water Supply Management Act (N.J.S.A. 58:1A-1 et. seq.). The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection adopted the first plan in 1982 and the first major revision in 1996. The current revision to the NJSWSP is scheduled to be completed by January 2006. The NJSWSP will provide a blueprint to guide the management, conservation and development of the State's water resources during the next 50 years. Also, the NJSWSP will ensure that sufficient quantities of water supplies are available to all parts of New Jersey while balancing water quality and ecosystem health concerns.

The Water Resources Policy Office works in conjunction with the Department's Division of Water Supply, Division of Water Quality and ll of the Bureaus within the Division of Watershed Management. Currently, the Water Resources Policy Office is working on three major initiatives:

• Issuance of water supply demonstration funds for alternative water supply demonstration projects
• 2006 New Jersey Statewide Water Supply Plan
• A Comprehensive Statewide Water Conservation Initiative