March 19, 2026

Get your trash pickers ready – the Barnegat Bay Blitz is running from April 11 – 26th!

by Caroline McFarland

Volunteers at a Barnegat Bay Blitz cleanup

The Barnegat Bay Blitz (‘Blitz’) is an annual watershed-wide clean up event that brings together hundreds of volunteers with one goal in mind: keeping our land and water clean by removing litter from neighborhoods throughout the Barnegat Bay Watershed. Since 2011, the Blitz has been making an immense difference for the health of the Barnegat Bay.  

nj watershed region

What’s a Watershed? 

New Jersey has 20 Watershed Management Areas (WMAs). Each WMA has smaller watersheds and subwatersheds within it. A watershed is defined by the body of water that it drains into – thus, in the Barnegat Bay Watershed, the land area drains into, you guessed it, the Barnegat Bay.  

It’s hard to imagine on a daily basis, but all water is connected. When it rains, water flows over the land and roads and trickles down into storm drains, rivers, and streams. Trash, like water, travels through those same storm drains into local streams, rivers, and eventually the bay and ocean.  

Making a Difference 

Picking up a single plastic bottle prevents its decomposition into thousands of microplastics that would harm wildlife and enter the food chain. Every little bit helps. 

With a large goal of having cleanup events in each municipality, the Blitz strives to bring the community together and make a difference, all usually within the span of one week. This year, we have expanded the Blitz to two weeks. That covers three full weekends, allowing more flexibility for volunteers and captains alike.  

Volunteers at the Blitz cleanup

How to Participate 

The Barnegat Bay Watershed covers most of the 33 municipalities in Ocean County, four in Monmouth County, and one in Burlington County. Currently, 19 municipalities will be participating in the Blitz, with 25 clean ups occurring over the course of two weeks.  

If you would like to lead a clean-up and volunteer as a captain, there is still time! Email Caroline McFarland, Stewardship Specialist at the Barnegat Bay Partnership, at cmcfarland@ocean.edu.  

Check out our website for information on each of the cleanups happening during the Blitz. When you attend a clean up event, make sure you wear sturdy shoes (no flip flops or sandals). Bring your own reusable water bottle and your enthusiam. See you out there! 

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.

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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.

 

Get your trash pickers ready – the Barnegat Bay Blitz is running from April 11 – 26th!

The Barnegat Bay Blitz (‘Blitz’) is an annual watershed-wide clean up event that brings together hundreds of volunteers with one goal in mind: keeping our land and water clean by removing litter from neighborhoods throughout the Barnegat Bay Watershed. Since 2011, the Blitz has been making an immense difference for the health of the Barnegat Bay.  

nj watershed region

What’s a Watershed? 

New Jersey has 20 Watershed Management Areas (WMAs). Each WMA has smaller watersheds and subwatersheds within it. A watershed is defined by the body of water that it drains into – thus, in the Barnegat Bay Watershed, the land area drains into, you guessed it, the Barnegat Bay.  

It’s hard to imagine on a daily basis, but all water is connected. When it rains, water flows over the land and roads and trickles down into storm drains, rivers, and streams. Trash, like water, travels through those same storm drains into local streams, rivers, and eventually the bay and ocean.  

Making a Difference 

Picking up a single plastic bottle prevents its decomposition into thousands of microplastics that would harm wildlife and enter the food chain. Every little bit helps. 

With a large goal of having cleanup events in each municipality, the Blitz strives to bring the community together and make a difference, all usually within the span of one week. This year, we have expanded the Blitz to two weeks. That covers three full weekends, allowing more flexibility for volunteers and captains alike.  

Volunteers at the Blitz cleanup

How to Participate 

The Barnegat Bay Watershed covers most of the 33 municipalities in Ocean County, four in Monmouth County, and one in Burlington County. Currently, 19 municipalities will be participating in the Blitz, with 25 clean ups occurring over the course of two weeks.  

If you would like to lead a clean-up and volunteer as a captain, there is still time! Email Caroline McFarland, Stewardship Specialist at the Barnegat Bay Partnership, at cmcfarland@ocean.edu.  

Check out our website for information on each of the cleanups happening during the Blitz. When you attend a clean up event, make sure you wear sturdy shoes (no flip flops or sandals). Bring your own reusable water bottle and your enthusiam. See you out there! 

Contact Get your trash pickers ready – the Barnegat Bay Blitz is running from April 11 – 26th!Contact Get your trash pickers ready – the Barnegat Bay Blitz is running from April 11 – 26th!
Volunteers at a Barnegat Bay Blitz cleanup