Findings from Phase One research (Taghon, et al., 2016 and Ren, et al., 2016) and United States Geological Survey investigations are being incorporated into a water quality model to determine the appropriate water quality targets for Barnegat Bay.

The Barnegat Bay benthic macroinvertebrate research shows a correlation between total nitrogen (TN) concentration in the water column and the abundance (percentage) of sensitive benthic macroinvertebrate species (Taghon, et al., 2016). A total nitrogen concentration is being selected with stakeholder input to ensure that a certain percentage of sensitive species, such as 20 percent or 25 percent, will remain present in the benthos.

‘Reference’ or ’close-to’ natural condition is an important consideration when developing a nutrient standard and can be defined as the lowest level the system can possibly achieve with no anthropogenic (human) inputs. In simplest terms, close-to natural condition essentially models what nutrient levels would be if the watershed was in its natural state before humans began transforming the environment. This condition represents the best achievable condition and therefore, any water quality standard concentration would need to be above that number and capable of supporting a certain level of sensitive species.

• Action: Continue the development and proposal of an appropriate numeric nutrient standard
• Lead: DEP – Division of Water Monitoring and Standards, and United States Geological Survey
• Partners: United States Environmental Protection Agency, and Academia