Author Topic: Hackensack River Eco-tourism  (Read 58500 times)

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Hackensack River Eco-tourism
« on: October 14, 2006, 11:07:48 AM »
Record Article:  Marina, park proposed at riverside eatery site

Great idea.  I wonder if Hackensack could do something similar somewhere.
« Last Edit: October 18, 2006, 02:33:54 PM by Editor »



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« Last Edit: October 15, 2006, 11:32:43 AM by Editor »

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Re: Hackensack River Eco-tourism
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2007, 09:05:21 AM »

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Hackensack River
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2007, 10:35:55 AM »

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Hackensack River
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2007, 09:41:47 AM »
« Last Edit: August 27, 2007, 09:44:46 AM by Editor »

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Re: Hackensack River Eco-tourism
« Reply #5 on: August 28, 2007, 09:41:37 AM »

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Re: Hackensack River Eco-tourism
« Reply #6 on: August 29, 2007, 09:49:11 AM »

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« Last Edit: October 16, 2007, 09:35:15 AM by Editor »

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Riverkeeper robbed of $10,000 motor
« Reply #9 on: April 26, 2008, 09:14:55 PM »
« Last Edit: April 26, 2008, 09:30:47 PM by Editor »

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Re: Hackensack River Eco-tourism
« Reply #13 on: January 01, 2009, 02:52:19 PM »
My friends at the Hackensack Riverkeeper organization say that they expect oysters to thrive in the southern half of the Meadowlands, probably staying south of Route 3.  Further north the salt content is currently too low. Wherever they live, they help filter the water of silt and pollutants.  So don't expect to be eating them out of the 'hacky.

They make the water clearer, allowing more growth of seaweed beds that sustain breeding fish. 

Many of the commercially-valuable sport fish in the ocean, including Striped Bass, bluefish, and weakfish, breed exclusively in back-bay estuary wetlands such as the Meadowlands, Barnegat Bay, Raritan Bay, etc.

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Hackensack River continues its recovery
« Reply #14 on: April 23, 2010, 09:25:44 AM »
EARTH DAY SPECIAL: Hackensack River continues its recovery
Date: Thursday, April 22

By John Soltes / Editor in Chief

LYNDHURST (April 22, 2010, 10:15 a.m.) — The sky is looking blue for the murky depths of the Hackensack River, according to the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, which has zoning authority for the portions of land in and around the southern branch of the 50-mile estuary.

In a spate of recently released studies — meant to coincide with Earth Day, held this year on Thursday, April 22 — the NJMC and its Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute are finding sustained progress from the microorganism level to the bird population. In particular, the amount of dissolved oxygen in the river, which is a telling sign of an estuary’s health, has seen an increase over the last 17 years.

In 1993, the oxygen hovered just below a designated stress level for aquatic life. Today, the oxygen has rebounded to a more comforting plateau.

But this waterway, home to numerous birds and fish, is not out of the dark just yet.

“We’re all confident,” said Dr. Francisco Artigas, director of MERI. “But we’re cautious.”

The caution may be due to last year’s dissolved oxygen levels. According to statistics released by the commission, the concentration of dissolved oxygen dropped from 8.5 mg/L in 2008 to roughly 6 mg/L in 2009 (the amount is still well above the stress level). Artigas said 2009 was a bit of an outlier, and that trends need to be evaluated over several years because of the drastic variability that can cause levels to rise or fall. In 2009, for example, there was more precipitation than usual, especially in the spring and summer months; thus the stormwater system, which empties into the river, brought with it not only rain, but also hazardous fertilizer, soap from car washes and lawn clippings.

When looking at the study’s genesis in 1993 to the present day, there is a long-term increase of dissolved oxygen equaling 11 percent.

“We take four samplings per year from 14 locations in the estuary,” Artigas said. “We sample every season at low tide, which are the worse conditions.”

Though this recently released study looks at levels from a year-to-year basis, the NJMC also monitors oxygen on an hourly basis (a study that dates back some six years). Artigas and his staff keep their pulse on the river like a watchful parent over a newborn.

With this new data set, Artigas said “there’s nothing abnormal” and that “if anything the numbers are looking really good.”

The Hackensack River is a strange snake, indeed. It slithers its way from parts north down to the Meadowlands and the Newark area. It’s a tidal beast that is prone to flooding when the rains become heavy. Artigas calls it’s a “dysfunctional estuary.”

For example, when there is an increase in precipitation, as there was the weekend of March 13, the Oradell dam releases a tremendous amount of water to relieve pressure in the north. “This creates a reaction from the river when you discharge abruptly from one single point,” Artigas said. “Nutrients enter the system. The salinity goes down. Turbidity goes up. There are many sources of variability.”

One nutrient that makes its way into the stormwater system is nitrogen, and this is how the public is intimately involved with the river. When a person soaps up their car, uses fertilizer on their lawn or deposits lawn clippings on the side of the road, they may have an inadvertent effect on the nearby Hackensack River. “All the debris … has great influence when you take in the quality of the river,” Artigas added.

Jim Wright, the communications officer for the NJMC who runs the Meadowlands Blog, echoed those sentiments. “What (residents) put on their lawns has a direct effect on the river,” he said.

The Clean Water Act of 1970 eliminated many points of pollution (sewage, for example, no longer should makes its way into the wetlands). Now the pendulum of responsibility swings onto the well-manicured lawns of those in the local neighborhood.

“We don’t have a way to look at how the citizen is behaving,” Artigas said. “Anything you put in the catch basins in the street … goes directly into the river.”

Without dissolved oxygen, Artigas said the Hackensack River, which has a history of being a natural hatchery for young fish, would not sustain life.

“This is one of the most developed, metropolitan areas in the world,” Artigas said. “This is no time for, ‘We have won the war or we can go to McDonald’s and forget about.’ We are far from done.”

Contact John at 201-438-8700