Projects & Programs - Keep the Rain from the Drain

Green Infrastructure Planning for Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, NJ

Project description:

This project is to conduct an impervious cover assessment (ICA) for Hamilton Township, located in Atlantic County, and develop a green infrastructure action plan and strategic plan.  These will be important tools to help Hamilton Township move forward with reducing the impacts of stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces and implementing green infrastructure practices throughout the municipality. 

The Water Resources Program will prepare an impervious cover assessment (ICA) using the New Jersey Department of Environmenal Protection (NJDEP) 2015 land use/land cover geographic information system (GIS) data layer.  Impervious surfaces will be located and quantified in the ICA, and the runoff volumes associated with these impervious surfaces will be quantified. 

Using the data gained from the ICA, the RCE Water Resources Program will develop a green infrastructure action plan (Action Plan) for Hamilton Township.  Green infrastructure projects to manage stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces in Hamilton Township will be identified in the Action Plan.  The Action Plan will also contain short-term goals that can be completed over the next five years. 

The green infrastructure strategic plan (Strategic Plan) incorporates the information from the ICA and Action Plan into an easy-to-read document that includes information from the Green Infrastructure Guidance Manual for New Jersey such as descriptions and images of various green infrastructure practices as well as information on community engagement and educational programs.  Artistic renderings for three of the proposed green infrastructure projects will be included in the Strategic Plan.  Long-term goals for green infrastructure implementation (i.e., for five (5) to twenty (20) years) will be set in the Strategic Plan, and an evaluation of local ordinances to determine where there are opportunities to alter ordinance language to encourage green infrastructure will be included.

Links are provided to the impervious cover assessment (ICA), green infrastructure action plan, green infrastructure action plan web map, and the green infrastructure stategic plan completed to date for Hamilton Township.

 

 


Water Resources Program at Rutgers NJAES