Project ID: 2003NJ50B

Title: Urban Watershed Management: Increasing Public "Ownership" of Watershed Resources

Project Type: Information Transfer

Focus Categories: Education, Water Quality, Non Point Pollution

Keywords: urban watershed, ecology, water quality, water monitoring, nonpoint source pollution, NPS

Start Date: 03/01/2003

End Date: 03/01/2004

Federal Funds: $10000.00

Matching Funds: $5550.00

Congressional District: 8

Principal Investigator: Pardi, Richard

Abstract: This project proposes to demonstrate that the most effective way to increase public participation in watershed protection is to increase public “ownership” of watershed resources. "Ownership” would be obtained by the involvement of college, grade and high school students in the collection, analysis and evaluation of watershed data, directly related to current watershed issues. Local decision makers listen more intently to students than they do to professional scientists. Water testing of local urban streams will take place at the proposed educational center at Oldham Pond and will involve WPUNJ students, faculty, K-12 educators in several local districts, and their students. The success rate of the program will be assessed by monitoring the level of community environmental activity in the towns or districts that have sent student groups to programs at the Oldham Pond center. Initial funding for this information transfer project will provide monitoring equipment and data storage capability to train students and assemble data for improvement of understanding how urbanization and watershed restoration programs impact water resources.

Progress/Completion Report PDF