July 8, 2019

CCMP Public Comment Period Now Open

by S-FX.com

bay

The draft Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for Barnegat Bay (CCMP) is now available for public review and comments.  We welcome your comments on the draft document during the 60-day public comment period, open from July 1 to August 31, 2019.

The CCMP is the guiding document for protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Barnegat Bay and its watershed. Our partners have been working to revise the original CCMP, approved in 2002, to reflect changes in the Barnegat Bay’s condition and emerging threats, such as climate change and sea level rise. The draft revised plan focuses on four priority areas: water quality, water supply, living resources, and land use. For each priority, the plan specifies one or more goals, several objectives, and multiple actions towards achieve those objectives.

If you would like to comment on the draft revised plan, please use this Form to submit your comments. You can enter up to four comments on the form. If you have more than four, you can submit the form multiple times. If you prefer to submit your comments as a document instead of using the form, please email the document to CCMP@ocean.edu. Any attachments you would like to submit in support of your comments should also be emailed to CCMP@ocean.edu.

If you have any questions about how to comment, please contact Karen Walzer at kwalzer@ocean.edu.

Thank you for taking the time to review the draft revised CCMP and for providing your feedback!


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UNKNOWN

There is limited data available to quantify Wetland and Riparian Buffer Preservation, or updated data to quantify Wetland Acreage. The BBP has obtained funding and will begin assessment efforts for both targets, in the next few years.

 

 Hard Clam abundance has not been updated since 2012. Recovery of the stock will be guided by the Fishery Management Plan for Hard Clams, which is under development with the NJDEP, BBP, and other organizations. Reclam the Bay and other partners have continued to plant clams for restoration purposes. Continued plantings in strategic locations which maximize survival and reproduction is one strategy to pursue in the coming years. This work can use a model developed by Rutgers with BBP funding which identified areas where planted clams could have the greatest dispersal of their larvae and thus potentially maximally contribute to the recovery of the stock.

 Water Withdrawals were over the target in the 2021 report; USGS has not yet completed its latest update, so a definitive determination of status is not available. However, additional NJDEP data show that it is likely that we continue to not meet the target. Per capita water use has gone down, demonstrating the effectiveness of water-saving appliances and practices, but that decrease has been offset by population gains. 


IN PROGRESS

New maps quantifying Submerged Aquatic Vegetation extent were developed, but poor image clarity resulted in a high degree of uncertainty in the total acreage. NJDEP and Rutgers are working to resolve the uncertainty of these maps, and improve the total acreage estimate. Funding has also been obtained for further research and restoration activities. Several groups are developing potential restoration actions.

The USGS has completed the first phase of its study to identify minimum ecological flows in select Barnegat Bay tributaries. USGS scientists compared streamflow statistics between historical and current time periods to better understand trends in watershed flow conditions. This work provides a foundation for developing ecological flow targets in the Barnegat Bay watershed.  Similar to SAV extent, funding (approximately $450K) has been obtained by the BBP to complete the remaining phases necessary for threshold determination.

 

TARGETS ACHIEVED

No targets can be considered “Achieved” at this time.

 

NOT ACHIEVING

Several Public Swimming Beaches exceeded their safe swimming standards more frequently than during their baseline time period (2016-2018).

While most beaches are routinely safe for swimming, several problematic areas such as Beachwood, Hancock, Windward, and several lake beaches need track-down studies and restoration to pinpoint and address sources of bacteria.

Acres of Approved Shellfish Waters decreased from the last report. While this decrease was small, it represents a loss of previously approved waters. Similar to public beaches, track-down studies and restoration work are needed to pinpoint and address sources of bacteria.

 

CCMP Public Comment Period Now Open

The draft Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for Barnegat Bay (CCMP) is now available for public review and comments.  We welcome your comments on the draft document during the 60-day public comment period, open from July 1 to August 31, 2019.

The CCMP is the guiding document for protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Barnegat Bay and its watershed. Our partners have been working to revise the original CCMP, approved in 2002, to reflect changes in the Barnegat Bay’s condition and emerging threats, such as climate change and sea level rise. The draft revised plan focuses on four priority areas: water quality, water supply, living resources, and land use. For each priority, the plan specifies one or more goals, several objectives, and multiple actions towards achieve those objectives.

If you would like to comment on the draft revised plan, please use this Form to submit your comments. You can enter up to four comments on the form. If you have more than four, you can submit the form multiple times. If you prefer to submit your comments as a document instead of using the form, please email the document to CCMP@ocean.edu. Any attachments you would like to submit in support of your comments should also be emailed to CCMP@ocean.edu.

If you have any questions about how to comment, please contact Karen Walzer at kwalzer@ocean.edu.

Thank you for taking the time to review the draft revised CCMP and for providing your feedback!

Contact CCMP Public Comment Period Now OpenContact CCMP Public Comment Period Now Open
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