The objective of the Upper Cohansey River Watershed Management Project is to enhance water quality through adoption of conservation and management practices. Water chemistry and other river parameters will be monitored and evaluated at four locations in the Upper Cohansey River watershed. A location determined to be "nonimpaired" during the 1995-96 DEP "Ambient Biomonitoring Survey" will provide baseline information. Information will also be developed from a location determined to be "moderately impaired".
Two locations will monitor the impact of a nursery operation on water quality. Water chemistry information will be monitored just upstream and downstream from the nursery. Water will also be monitored prior to and following installation of a tailwater recovery system and evaluated to determine its impact on water quality.
The Upper Cohansey River will additionally be monitored for total suspended solids to determine locations from which sediment is entering the River. Conservation practices will be encouraged to help remediate problem areas when identified.
The Cohansey River watershed originates in Salem County and has a watercourse that travels throughout Cumberland County. This study is focused on approximately two miles of the river located in Alloway Township, Salem County and Upper Deerfield Township, Cumberland County. The study specifically extends from Beal Road in Salem County to Seeley Pond in Cumberland County.
The objective of the Upper Cohansey River Watershed Management Project is to enhance water quality through adoption of conservation and management practices adapted to nursery and other agricultural operations. During this study, water chemistry and other river parameters will be monitored and evaluated at two locations on the Upper Cohansey River. Three additional rotating sites will be monitored for total suspended solids. Also, a nursery operation will be monitored just upstream and downstream from the point that runoff water enters a tributary of the Cohansey River. The water will be monitored prior to and following installation of a tailwater recovery system in an effort to determine its impact on water quality parameters. The runoff water will also be sampled for certain pesticides following rain events in an effort to determine the fate of recently applied pesticides.
Overall quality of water can be characterized using several types of parameters. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) rates streams based on number, species diversity, and key species of benthic macroinvertebrates. Information on benthic macroinvertebrate populations has long been associated with perceived water quality. A recent study conducted in northern New Jersey and on Long Island, NY has questioned the correlation between benthic macroinvertebrates and water chemistry.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has suggested the use of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP), chlorophyll a (chl a) and turbidity as indicators of overall water quality. Total suspended solids (TSS) along with water flow and/or velocity is also useful information to determine water quality. Secondary variables include monitoring pH and dissolved oxygen. An additional physical characteristic useful for monitoring is water temperature.
It appears that a uniform method for determination of levels of water quality is a work in progress. For this study, USEPA guidelines will be used to evaluate water quality information developed from the Upper Cohansey watershed. Certain water chemistry and physical waterbody characteristics will be used as indicators of water quality. Information developed from this study will be compared to water quality status based on the ongoing ambient biomonitoring program ratings developed by the New Jersey DEP.