In addition to the Lake Monitoring Networks, the Bureau of Freshwater & Biological Monitoring manages projects with waterbody-specific goals that serve to fill gaps in current monitoring networks. Click on each project to learn more.
Click on the tabs below for project process:
BFBM worked with the EPA in the Mid-Atlantic Region to establish a Regional Monitoring Network (RMN). Data collected from Lake Regional Monitoring Network sites records conditions at high quality sites and tracks changes over time. This data provides important information on whether benchmarks are shifting over time and whether these changes are associated with changing thermal and hydrologic conditions. RMN data from high quality sites can also be used for the Clean Water Act Section 305(b) assessments as well as 303(d) Program.
Mount Misery Lake, Deer Park, Hands Mill and Mashipacong Ponds were selected due to their previous and current monitoring as part the NJ Reference Lake Monitoring Network. These waterbodies, shorelines and watersheds are protected by NJDEP State Parks and Forests, Fish and Wildlife and/or conservation non-profit-managed lands so there is low potential for future disturbance.
Continuous monitoring of water temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO) and water level measurements is collected at each of the four lakes, as resources permit. Water temperature is the highest priority parameter, followed by DO, then water level. These sensors are being deployed year-round or seasonally, depending on the type of installation and logistical constraints. Water sensors are installed on a vertical profile sensor arrays. The arrays are assembled by installing sensors, at fixed depths, on a line that is vertically suspended by a buoy and attached to the lake bottom using an anchor system.
Annual monitoring at Round Valley Reservoir was initiated in 2001.
Monitoring at the Round Valley Reservoir is conducted to fulfill the statutory requirements included in Assembly Bill No. A2793 amending R.S. 58:4-1, which was passed by the New Jersey Legislature on May 4th 2001. In it, the statute states,
"... the Commissioner of Environmental Protection shall provide for the continuous monitoring of the impacts associated with releasing water from the Round Valley reservoir for the purpose of sustaining water recreational activities at the Spruce Run reservoir."
The BFBM’s sampling efforts at the reservoir aim to monitor potential water quality effects, in particular nutrients, that the release of Round Valley water may have on the Spruce Run Reservoir.
Click the above map and choose the Other Networks/Projects tab
Project Design:
The current monitoring design for this project includes five sampling locations within Round Valley Reservoir and one sampling location on South Branch Raritan River upstream of New Jersey Water Supply Authority’s intake pond.
Samples are collected once per year, during the summer, at all six in-reservoir stations as well as the intake pond (if New Jersey Water Supply Authority begins pumping water into Round Valley Reservoir).
Parameters for Round Valley sampling include field parameters which are analyzed on-site (e.g., dissolved oxygen, pH) and conventional/nutrient parameters (e.g., phosphorus, total suspended solids). Click the button below for a complete list of parameters.
Additional samples are collected as needed or as conditions warrant (e.g. additional, pumping, drought).
Monitoring of the reservoir will continue through the Round Valley Structures Refurbishment and Resource Preservation Project. This project aims to rehabilitate and improve the reservoir’s existing structures to bring them up to today’s design standards. Work to strengthen the dams of Round Valley began in 2019 and required the partial drawdown of the reservoir. More information on these improvements can be found on the project’s website.
