MANAGEMENT PLANNING FOR 25 NEW JERSEY LAKES

Abstract

ABSTRACT The State of New Jersey has approximately 1,100 lakes of which 345 are publicly owned. Many of these lakes are located in urban–suburban areas with high density residential and commercial land use activities on their watersheds. In 1975, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) initiated a lake management program, inventorying and conducting water chemistry sampling in over 450 of these lakes. Based on these observations, over 30 percent of these lakes were presumed eutrophic. Final determination of trophic status and the development of management plans, however, necessitated more extensive analysis. To accomplish this NJDEP secured a $100,000 Section 314 Lake Classification Grant on Nov. 17, 1979. Of the lakes inventoried, 25 were selected for intensive study. They represent a reasonable cross section of the types of lakes and lake problems in New Jersey. These 25 lakes were ranked on the basis of their trophic status as determined by land use, unit areal loading, methodolog...