Area Groups to Host Forum on Local Water Supply

LINCROFT, NJ (March 17, 2016) – Community members are invited to an expert panel discussion on local drinking water, water quality and the potential risks to statewide water supplies on Wednesday, April 13 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Brookdale Community College, 765 Newman Springs Road, Lincroft.

According to a December 2015 report by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), only 55 percent of New Jersey’s waters fully support one of the department’s five designated uses of water resources: water supply, recreation, aquatic life, shellfish harvest and fish consumption. The other forty-five percent support none.

Panel experts will discuss how watersheds function, what is required to protect them, the need for infrastructure upgrades and the critical water supply issues facing residents in Monmouth County and across New Jersey. Community members are invited to participate, ask questions and learn what they can do to help protect their drinking water quality.

Panel speakers include Fred Sickels, former director of the division of water supply and geoscience at the NJDEP; Carleton Montgomery, executive director of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance; and Dan Van Abs, associate research professor for water, society and environment at Rutgers University.

The forum is co-sponsored by the Monmouth County League of Women Voters; Monmouth County Friends of Clearwater; NY/NJ Baykeeper; Waterspirit; Clean Ocean Action; Raritan Riverkeeper; United Methodist Church of Red Bank; Citizens for Informed Land Use; the Brookdale Community College political science department and three Brookdale student groups.

The program is free and open to all. Parking is in lots 6 and 7. For more information contact Louise Usechak at 732-842-1370 or email louiseusechak@comcast.net.