Watershed ambassadors keep an eye on Raritan River

CENTRAL JERSEY - You're tailgating at a Rutgers football game. Your red plastic cup is half full of stale beer you don't want to drink, so you dump it onto the parking lot and don't give it a second thought.

But where does the beer go?

It goes to the same place where the fertilizer on your lawn eventually ends up and where the water from your toilet goes. And if you, God forbid, drop that red plastic cup on the ground, it ends up in the same place.

The beer, after being carried by gravity and rainwater, eventually finds a home in the Raritan River, the longest river within New Jersey's borders. The Raritan is called the "jewel" of Central Jersey as it meanders through Hunterdon, Somerset and Middlesex counties before joining the ocean at Perth Amboy.

READ: The river that runs through Central Jersey

READ: Raritan River gets spring cleaning​

READ: Water plant in Bridgewater begins $65M flood control project​

The Raritan River is essential to life in Central Jersey. It provides 1 million people with the water to drink, bathe, cook, water their lawns and flush their toilets.

What you do every day, even an act as simple as emptying a cup of beer in a parking lot, has an impact on the health of the river.

Most people don't know that. They take the river for granted.

But they shouldn't.

That's one of the messages of the third annual Raritan River Week that will be celebrated through the end of the month.

Raritan River Week

Jim Rokosny, chairman of the Bridgewater Environmental Commission, developed the concept of Raritan River Week three years ago as a way to bring previously disparate groups together for a common goal — celebrate the unique value of the river and protect it from avoidable man-made dangers.

"I wanted to find a way to unite all of these great organizations and give focus to this vital resource," he said. "The Raritan is a treasure and many people don't know about it and what it offers."

In just three years, Rokosny has become "pretty happy" with the progress of his initiative.

"I wanted to give people a chance to see all of the aspects of this great river, as well as have a means to participate, even if they could not make one of the events," he said.

Groups from the Raritan Headwaters Association and the Lower Raritan Watershed Association to the Central Jersey Stream Team and NY/NJ Baykeeper are eager to participate in Raritan River Week and list their activities on its website, http://raritanriverweek.com​.

For Saturday, April 22, the website listed more than a dozen events, including the Raritan Headwaters' 27th Annual Stream Cleanup, the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association's 11th Annual Stream Cleanup and Hunterdon County's Earth Day Celebration at Echo Hill Park.

Rokosny is pleased that organizations, including Duke Farms and Raritan Valley Community College, and government entities, including the Somerset County Park Commission, Bridgewater, Readington, Somerville and Perth Amboy, want to participate in Raritan River Week.

"Everybody I asked, said yes," he said. "It was all about developing partnerships. We are all working for the same goal."

But Rokosny wanted to come up with something new this year for Raritan River Week. When Chris Poulsen, Bridgewater''s director of health and human services, told him about the availability of 1,400 saplings from the N.J.Tree Foundation, Rokosny came up with "Slow the Flow," a series of tree plantings in the Raritan watershed.

Plus, Rokosny invited a new group to participate, the Americorps N.J. Watershed Ambassadors.

Ambassadors to the environment

The AmeriCorps N.J. Watershed Ambassadors Program, now in its 17th year, is run by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Division of Water Monitoring & Standards. The program's goals are to promote watershed stewardship through education and direct community involvement, and to monitor stream health through performing visual and biological assessments.

Individual AmeriCorps members are assigned to each of New Jersey's 20 watershed management areas to serve as Watershed ambassadors to the watershed communities.

“This long-term program helps identify New Jersey’s future environmental leaders and develops their stewardship for our resources,” said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin. “These leaders will be entrusted with the task of protecting New Jersey’s water-quality environment through education and by empowering residents to make a difference in their communities through participation in partnership projects.”

The ambassadors are required to complete 1,700 hours of service over 10 or 11 months. Compensation includes a pretax stipend of $12,530; eligibility for health insurance benefits while serving as an ambassador; subsidized childcare, if qualified; deferment of qualified student loans during service; and extensive training throughout the program year. In addition, members are eligible to receive an education award of $5,730 upon successful completion of the program.

“What is impressive about the young people who participate in the AmeriCorps New Jersey Watershed Ambassadors Program is their willingness to pitch in and motivate the public to get involved in cleaning up their local waters,” said Pat Gardner, former director of the DEP’s Division of Water Monitoring and Standards. “The efforts of these Watershed Ambassadors helps make the public more aware of how everyday actions impact clean water.”

For the three ambassadors responsible for the Raritan watershed, this year was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Passion for the environment

For Carmela Buono, Anna Marshall and Katee Meckeler, being a Watershed ambassador was the perfect way to spend a transition year between college graduation and starting a career or graduate school.

"It's my passion to help the environment," said Marshall.

Their job revolves around educating people of all ages about their relationship with the environment and the Raritan River, organizing events and checking on the river's health.

Buono, who is responsible for both branches of the river from their sources in the Highlands to where they join at the Branchburg, Bridgewater and Hillsborough border, spent Tuesday at Three Bridges School in Readington. Teaching people, whether they're grammar school kids or adults, about their role and responsibilities in the environment brings her special satisfaction.

"Most people don't understand how the water is important," she said. "I like to see their light bulb go off."

"A lot of people don't realize how important the river is or how the river works," said Meckeler.

For example, she said people don't know the environmental impact when a dog owner doesn't pick up their pet's waste.

Because of what has been added to dog food, she explained "dog poop is not natural anymore." And like the beer poured into the parking lot, the inorganic ingredients eventually make their way into the Raritan River.

In the "Slow the Flow" event, Meckeler, who grew up in Branchburg and graduated from Somerville High School, will be working with students from her alma mater and Bridgewater-Raritan High School to plant trees along Peter's Brook.

Being a Watershed ambassador has been important for Meckeler's personal growth, she said. After graduating from the relative cocoon of college, her year in the watershed exposed her to people from all walks of life, an experience she could not have gained elsewhere.

Marshall, who will be planting trees in her hometown of Montgomery and West Windsor, said the trees serve two purposes — they help curb erosion and they filter pollutants from entering the water.

"The trees keep everything in balance," she said.

That balance is important to the health of the river, Buono said.

When the Watershed ambassadors perform an assessment of the river, they first conduct a visual assessment for erosion, trash or changes in the landscape. And then they take a water sample — the river's equivalent of a blood test — to see what organisms are thriving. These micro-invertebrates are an indication of how healthy the river is or if it's being adversely impacted by pollution. 

"When people find out about what may be wrong with the river, they want to fix it," she said.

Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6607; mdeak@mycentraljersey.com