Connect With Us
Title Here
Projects
Cooper River Stormwater Education and Implementation Project
Camden County, New Jersey
Project Funding Source: NJDEP 319(h)
The Cooper River Watershed is 40 square mile tributary to the Delaware River within the Delaware River Basin. It is characterized by extensive residential and commercial development. The surface waters are impaired for a wide variety of nutrients, chemicals and bacteria, but more importantly the river is impacted by increased runoff.
Camden County Soil Conservation District (CCSCD) has completed a Regional Stormwater Management Plan for the Cooper River Watershed. This plan identifies opportunities for the implementation of stormwater best management practices (BMPs) and management strategies to reduce peak flows from high frequency storms. One strategy discussed is working with stakeholders to gain a better understanding of the watershed and it river networks and for these stakeholders to take an active role in addressing impairments via small scale and grass-roots projects.
This project focuses on building upon existing partnerships within the watershed to implement some of the BMP recommendations identified in the Cooper River Regional Stormwater Management Plan. The overall project goal is to demonstrate and evaluate how rain garden educational programs within the Cooper River Watershed will improve water quality and quantity in the Cooper River Watershed.
This project has three main objectives:
- The first objective is to implement the Stormwater Management in Your Schoolyard educational program in at least three school systems in the Cooper River Watershed. This will provide students with an opportunity to apply their science, math, and communication skills to real-world environmental problems. This will increase their environmental awareness as they go forth and teach others in their communities about the importance of water quality and quantity. As part of this objective, the students will participate in the design and construction of a rain garden at their school.
- The second objective is to implement the Stormwater Management in Your Backyard (SWMIYB) educational program within the Cooper River Watershed. For SWMIYB, Rutgers Cooperative Extension and CCSCD professionals will educate stakeholders so that they have the skills needed to install and manage rain gardens and provide educational resources so that the stakeholders can adopt the practice of rain garden installation and coordinate outreach efforts in the Cooper River Watershed.
- The third objective is to implement the Rain Garden Training for Landscape Professionals educational program and the Corporate Landscapes for Stormwater Management educational program. These programs will provide landscape professionals with a rain garden installation certificate of completion and the knowledge to offer rain garden installations to their clients, such as corporate entities. Rutgers Cooperative Extension and CCSCD professionals will work with local landscapers and corporations to install demonstration rain gardens in the Cooper River Watershed.
Through the implementation of rain gardens throughout the watershed, the impervious surfaces within the watershed will be disconnected and stormwater runoff will be intercepted, treated and infiltrated to help minimize flooding and improve water quality of the Cooper River.
Deliverables to Date:
- Stormwater Management in Your Schoolyard
- Demonstration rain gardens at Central Elementary School, Haddonfield
- Demonstration rain gardens at Haddonfield Memorial High School, Haddonfield
- Demonstration rain garden at Lawnside Public School, Lawnside
- Demonstration rain gardens at Lindenwold High School, Lindenwold
- Demonstration rain gardens at Sumner Elementary School, Camden
- Stormwater Management in Your Backyard
- Demonstration rain gardens at Chapel Avenue Park, Cherry Hill
- Demonstration rain garden at Cherry Hill Department of Public Works, Cherry Hill
- Demonstration rain garden at Cherry Hill Public Library, Cherry Hill
- Demonstration rain garden at John Connolly Memorial Park, Voorhees
- Demonstration rain garden at Lawnside Park, Lawnside
- Demonstration rain garden at Lion’s Lake Park, Voorhees
- Demonstration rain gardens at Parkisde Community, Camden
- Demonstration rain garden at Rita M. Faiola Memorial Park, Cherry Hill
- Demonstration rain garden at Wayne R. Bryant Community Center, Lawnside
- Rain Garden Training for Landscape Professionals and Corporate Landscapes for Stormwater Management
- Rain Garden Training for Landscape Professionals curriculum
- Demonstration rain garden at Subaru of America, Inc., Cherry Hill
Contacts:
Craig McGee
Project Director
Camden County Soil Conservation District
423 Commerce Lane, Suite 1
West Berlin, NJ 08091
856-767-6299, craig.mcgee@camdenscd.org
Christopher C. Obropta, Ph.D., P.E.
Associate Extension Specialist
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
14 College Farm Road
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
732-932-9800 x 6209, obropta@envsci.rutgers.edu
Amy Boyajian
Program Associate
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
14 College Farm Road
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
732-932-9800 x 6164, boyajian@envsci.rutgers.edu
Project Partners:
• Camden County Soil Conservation District
• Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Camden County
This text is for placement only. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Nunc et ante sit amet risus cursus varius. Vestibulum laoreet tellus eget tortor. Donec eu mauris. In blandit purus eget nisi. Aenean ultricies quam et arcu. In quis lorem. Sed tellus. Pellentesque varius. Nam dolor sapien, suscipit a, facilisis quis, sollicitudin eu, nibh. Pellentesque velit. Nunc luctus tincidunt elit. Integer in dolor a nulla dictum ultrices. Suspendisse sagittis. Donec vitae tellus.
