Water Quality Condition and Assessment within the Barnegat Bay Watershed between 2011 and 2015

Abstract

ABSTRACT Pang, H.; Ingelido, P.; Hirst, B.; Pflaumer, J.; Witt, A.; Zaman, A., and Aiello, J., 2017. Water quality condition and assessment within the Barnegat Bay watershed between 2011 and 2015. In: Buchanan, G.A.; Belton, T.J., and Paudel, B. (eds.), A Comprehensive Assessment of Barnegat Bay–Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. To address the ecological health of Barnegat Bay in New Jersey, a comprehensive water monitoring program has been conducted within the Barnegat Bay watershed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and multiple partners since June 2011. Barnegat Bay and its tributaries were evaluated for multiple water quality metrics and from various perspectives. The nutrient concentrations and loadings from the tributaries in the northern watershed are higher than those from the tributaries in the southern portion of the watershed. Within Barnegat Bay, higher nitrogen concentrations were observed in the northern portion, while higher total phosphorus (TP) concentrations occurred i...