New Jersey Awards $10M to Fund Water Quality Improvement Projects Statewide

A collaborative research group led by NJIT has been awarded a $788k grant from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to implement restoration and protection measures for polluted lakes and ponds within the state.

The grant is part of a $10M allocation announced by the Murphy Administration to develop water quality improvement projects across New Jersey, funding for which stems from the federal government’s American Rescue Plan that was appropriated by the state Legislature.

“These grants will help a diverse group of DEP partners implement projects that will reduce the harmful effects of stormwater, nonpoint source pollution and harmful algal blooms (HABs) that will only worsen due to the impacts of climate change,” said Shawn M. LaTourette, commissioner of the NJDEP. “On behalf of the Murphy Administration, we are excited to facilitate these projects in various overburdened communities to meet Department environmental justice and statewide water quality goals and objectives.”

This grant will allow us to provide solutions

Michel Boufadel, distinguished professor of civil and environmental engineering at NJIT and principal investigator of the grant, is an expert in measuring water flow in urban watersheds, which is a critical step for reducing runoff and improving water quality. Joining Boufadel are Dibs Sarkar of Stevens Institute of Technology and Christopher Obropta of Rutgers. Additional Co-PIs on the grant are Ashish Borgaonkar and William Pennock from NJIT.

The researchers will first identify pollutant sources and provide recommendations for remediation, which will then serve as the blueprint for restoration and protection of the selected lakes and watersheds. These plans will address nutrient loading — the quantity of nutrients entering an ecosystem in a given period of time — which contribute to harmful algal blooms (HABs).

“This grant will allow us to provide solutions for HAB problems that extend into the future as the environment changes due to climate change,” said Boufadel.

Green engineered mulch offers a solution

The researchers will also implement rain gardens with green engineered mulch (GEM) in select lake watersheds to filter phosphorus, a major culprit of lake pollution. Though cost effective, typical rain gardens are limited in their pollutant filtering capabilities, and some substrates commonly used have been found to contribute to high phosphorus levels in the water when oversaturated.

To alleviate these problems, the research team at Stevens designed GEM to be an easy retrofit to existing rain gardens that better filter out pollutants like phosphorus. The GEM has been field tested in Secaucus, where two more rain gardens are currently being retrofitted, also funded by NJDEP.

"To be truly 'green,' a technology should ideally fulfill all three basic sustainability criteria. GEM is environmentally sustainable; it repurposes a nonhazardous solid waste. The technology is relatively inexpensive because the source material can be obtained at no cost or low cost. It is socially acceptable because it is easy to implement and visually unobtrusive. GEM is not much different from regular mulch and its emplacement doesn't require any structural modification of the rain gardens."

Also part of the grant is an educational component that targets community engagement around the lakes. This component will focus on teaching area high school students about green infrastructure designs and benefits. In addition, the researchers will conduct workshops with the communities to seek their input on their goals and to inform them of the possible actions