October 9, 2020

2020-2021 Watershed Ambassador

by S-FX.com

summer flounder emily

The Barnegat Bay Partnership welcomes Emily McGuckin as she begins her 2020-2021 term of service with the AmeriCorps Watershed Ambassador Program.

AmeriCorps is a national service initiative that engages more than 70,000 Americans each year in volunteer service that benefits education, public safety, health, homeland security, and the environment. The NJ Watershed Ambassador Program is an AmeriCorps program designed to promote watershed stewardship through education and community outreach. The BBP is the host agency for the Barnegat Bay watershed ambassador, who is one of 20 ambassadors assigned to the 20 main watersheds in New Jersey.

As an ambassador, Emily will educate people about reducing sources of water pollution, conduct biological and visual stream assessments to help monitor the health of New Jersey’s waterways, and complete on-the-ground projects such as clean-ups and plantings. This year she will have the added challenge of keeping others and herself safe during the coronovirus pandemic. Emily and the other ambassadors will follow COVID-19 safety protocols during their term of service.

Emily is a graduate of Stockton University with a B.S. in Marine Science. She has worked as a lead scientist at a marine science camp, assistant park naturalist, and field technician. This is her second term of service with the Ambassador program, having served last year in Watershed Management Area 2 in Sussex County.

Emily is excited about serving in our watershed and says, “I have always been extremely passionate about conservation of the environment, especially marine environments. One of the ways that I share my passion is through hands-on marine activities, like seining or fishing. Children get so excited being able to hold a living organism in their hands. They are able to see first-hand how amazing life is on this planet and why we need to protect it.”

To contact Emily about an educational program or assistance with a project, email her at wma13.njwap@gmail.com.

Explore More Insights from Barnegat Bay

Dive deeper into the ongoing efforts to protect and restore our environment with more updates and initiatives that you can take part in. Check out our latest blog posts for valuable tips and insights.

View All

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.

 

2020-2021 Watershed Ambassador

The Barnegat Bay Partnership welcomes Emily McGuckin as she begins her 2020-2021 term of service with the AmeriCorps Watershed Ambassador Program.

AmeriCorps is a national service initiative that engages more than 70,000 Americans each year in volunteer service that benefits education, public safety, health, homeland security, and the environment. The NJ Watershed Ambassador Program is an AmeriCorps program designed to promote watershed stewardship through education and community outreach. The BBP is the host agency for the Barnegat Bay watershed ambassador, who is one of 20 ambassadors assigned to the 20 main watersheds in New Jersey.

As an ambassador, Emily will educate people about reducing sources of water pollution, conduct biological and visual stream assessments to help monitor the health of New Jersey’s waterways, and complete on-the-ground projects such as clean-ups and plantings. This year she will have the added challenge of keeping others and herself safe during the coronovirus pandemic. Emily and the other ambassadors will follow COVID-19 safety protocols during their term of service.

Emily is a graduate of Stockton University with a B.S. in Marine Science. She has worked as a lead scientist at a marine science camp, assistant park naturalist, and field technician. This is her second term of service with the Ambassador program, having served last year in Watershed Management Area 2 in Sussex County.

Emily is excited about serving in our watershed and says, “I have always been extremely passionate about conservation of the environment, especially marine environments. One of the ways that I share my passion is through hands-on marine activities, like seining or fishing. Children get so excited being able to hold a living organism in their hands. They are able to see first-hand how amazing life is on this planet and why we need to protect it.”

To contact Emily about an educational program or assistance with a project, email her at wma13.njwap@gmail.com.

Contact 2020-2021 Watershed AmbassadorContact 2020-2021 Watershed Ambassador
summer flounder emily