At a recent meeting of the Lawrence Brook Watershed Partnership, members were given the results of assessments that were performed in East Brunswick, Milton, New Brunswick, South Brunswick, and North Brunswick.
The assessments at the November 25 meeting looked into the nature of runoff of rainwater into area streams, rivers, and lakes. Chris Obropta , who is a specialist in water resources at Rutgers Cooperative Extension and a professor at the University, led the meeting. He printed the information that, due to such factors as agriculture, geese, and urbanization, the rainfall runoff from 14,340 acres of non-permeable pavement in East Brunswick often reaches bodies of groundwater in a polluted state.
He also let the group know that there are steps that can be undertaken to remedy the situation. For example, the use of porous asphalt and rain gardens allows the rainfall to percolate down through the soil, filtering out pollutants as it goes. There are also other techniques for helping to prevent contaminants from reaching the bodies of water.
He reminded those present that the state has made $175,000 available in grants to communities to undertake projects in improving the quality of their groundwater. This will be portioned out on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.
Keeping the public abreast of environmental issues that face the community can be made much easier through the use of brochure printers. They can create informational materials for distribution through bulk mail and other means.
