Current Funding Opportunities


The Barnegat Bay Partnership strives to support innovative, collaborative, and impactful projects throughout the watershed. Applications are open for these funding opportunities. Please contact Andrew McGowan with any questions.
John C Bartlett Park restoration
jellyfish seining seine
bridge
michael hudak field sample

Funding for General Research Projects

The Barnegat Bay Partnership (BBP) is pleased to announce a grant funding opportunity for research projects that address gaps identified in the BBP’s draft Environmental Monitoring Plan. The BBP anticipates that a total of approximately $70,925 will be available to support one or more projects addressing these priorities.
Proposals are welcome from organizations, government agencies, and individuals, including academic institutions (colleges and universities), governmental or public agencies, private businesses, professional organizations, non-governmental organizations (501[c]3), and other individuals. All projects must identify a project leader (i.e., Project Manager), whose qualifications (education, background, and experience) are a component in the evaluation process. Organizations and individuals may submit more than one proposal.

Letter of Interest Deadline: January 4, 2026
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Flooded road

Funding for Stormwater Related Projects

The Barnegat Bay Partnership (BBP) is pleased to announce a grant funding opportunity for stormwater management implementation projects within the Barnegat Bay watershed, that reduce nutrients or pathogens. The BBP anticipates that a total of approximately $923,638 will be available to support one or more projects.
These funds will support the restoration/improvement of stormwater infrastructure within the Barnegat Bay Watershed, subsequently addressing a major CCMP goal to reduce sources of nutrients, contaminants, debris, and other pollutant loadings from point and nonpoint source pollution.

To help with the implementation of the upcoming NJDEP TMDL for Nitrogen within Barnegat Bay and align with BBP’s CCMP goal of cleaner bay waters, stormwater restoration/improvement projects funded by this award must reduce nutrients or pathogens. Projects already required by mitigation or stormwater laws (e.g. green infrastructure required as part of new development) are not eligible.

Application Deadline: February 27, 2026
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Seining with Kean students

Funding for Students

The Barnegat Bay Partnership (BBP) is pleased to announce a funding opportunity to develop the Habitat Plan (HP) for the Barnegat Bay watershed. The BBP anticipates that a total of approximately $17,000 will be available to support this project.
The BBP is seeking a student contractor to lead the drafting of the HP based on notes and outputs developed during four workgroup meetings (one for each critical habitat). The student contractor will work with BBP staff and partners to ensure the HP aligns with the intended vision for each critical habitat. The HP, drafted by the contractor will cover tidal wetlands, submerged aquatic vegetation, hard clams, and a reduced section focused on uplands and freshwater riparian areas.

Application Deadline: January 21, 2026
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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.

 

Current Funding Opportunities

The more than 600 square miles of land draining to the bay can be divided into subwatersheds associated with the major waterways flowing to the bay – the Metedeconk River, Toms River, Cedar Creek/Forked River/Oyster Creek complex, and Mill Creek and the southern streams.

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Tributary of the Toms River