Year 2 Success: What's Next for Citizen Science in the Navesink Watershed?

Pictured here (clockwise) on the first day of the weekly Citizen Science Water Quality Sampling that piloted in 2017 is COA's staff sceintist, Swarna Muthukrishnan, PhD with Citizen Water Quality Samplers, Bob Markoff, Charles Grass, Skip Bugbee, and Chuck Honnewell

COA and NJDEP’s weekly ambient bacteria source track down “aka poo-llution” monitoring of the Navesink River successfully completed its second year since piloted in June 2017. For the third year, COA will continue to coordinate citizen scientists, sampling logistics, and samples transport to DEP’s Bureau of Marine Water Monitoring (BMWM) laboratory in Leeds Point, NJ. BMWM analyzes all samples before periodically sharing the data with COA. Results from past two years of data indicate seasonal trends in bacteria levels from various locations and confirm the impacts rain increasing pollution from runoff. During the summer, baseline studies of bacteria levels under ambient and wet-weather conditions will be conducted by COA and DEP in a few upstream tributaries. Stay tuned for more updates to follow!