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A SNAPSHOT OF WATER QUALITY IN THE UPPER POND RUN WATERSHED, HAMILTON, NEW JERSEY By W. Fricke, J. Miller, M. Miller and M. Slaughter
ABSTRACT The Upper Pond Run Watershed is located in Hamilton, New Jersey. While state and federal water quality authorities have generally labeled the whole watershed as impaired, the individual quality of Robert L. Martin Lake and its tributaries have not been previously investigated thoroughly. As an initial phase, land use& potential non-point sources were determined. In addition, water samples from the lake and selected sites along its tributaries were tested for temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrate-nitrogen, total phosphorus, turbidity and heavy metals. Benthic macroinvertebrate assessments were also performed at sites where water entered and left the lake. While the lake exhibited large daily swings in temperature and pH, most of its tributary waters showed reasonably healthy indications of water quality, and the system as a whole was generally in compliance with New Jersey regulations governing non-trout fresh waters. It was concluded that the lake’s shallowness, poor buffering and acid soils probably are responsible for causing most of the drainage basin’s stresses on submerged life forms. Lake biodiversity will likely remain low and the rate of eutrophication will probably rise, unless this artificial impoundment is deepened and surrounded by a much wider margin of native marsh plants. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors wish to express their deepest appreciation to Professor Kathleen Browne, Rider University, and to Randy Kertes, CPG, for their patient guidance and opportunity to utilize state-of-the-art scientific equipment while developing this investigation. Gratitude is also extended to the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation for the financial support without which this investigation could not have been undertaken. INTRODUCTION Over two days in early July, 2000, the authors performed chemical and biological measurements at selected sites along streams in the Upper Pond Run Watershed, Hamilton, New Jersey, in order to develop a "snapshot" of the local drainage basin’s water quality. These initial data were then to serve as a guide for planning a longer-term investigation and assessment of the local aquatic ecosystem. Pond Run flows in a westerly direction from eastern Hamilton Township to Assunpink Creek, a Delaware River tributary that flows through Trenton, New Jersey. Pond Run has 2 tributaries that join upstream of the lake and are referred in this pass as the northern & southern Pond tributaries. There are 2 other smaller, unnamed tributaries draining into the lake and are referred to simply as the northern & southern unnamed tributaries. The Upper Pond Run Watershed consists of Robert L. Martin Lake, an artificial impoundment of Pond Run about three-quarters of the way upstream from Assunpink Creek, together with several major and minor tributaries. Examination of 1995 infrared aerial photographs and USGS map on field verifications revealed that most of the watershed’s land is used for low-density housing and agriculture. However, R.L. Martin Lake is surrounded by a large park and there is a strip of commercial development adjoining a major road along the northwest boundary of the watershed. State and federal environmental authorities have declared the Pond Run Watershed to be significantly impaired, although the upper portion has not been investigated thoroughly prior to the authors’ short-term investigation. It is felt to be important to test whether all reaches of the drainage system are equally impaired, or if the upper watershed’s less intensive land uses might exhibit more salutary water quality characteristics than the more industrialized and commercialized lower watershed. |
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The
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
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