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What is Rally for the Two Rivers?

This program is a continuation and re-launch of the successful Rally for the Navesink in 2016 in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The initial Rally for the Navesink was launched in response to the the downgrade of 500+ acres of the Navesink's shellfish harvesting grounds to prohibited harvest. This downgrade represented major degradation of the water body, especially in context with the Navesink being home to some of Northern NJ's and NY's last open shellfish beds. The beds in the NY and Northern NJ area historically were one rich fishing grounds for the shellfish industry, but these beds have dwindled to almost nonexistent of the past century due to environmental degradation. COA published an in-depth report in June 2016, detailing the history of pathogen pollution in the Navesink watershed.

Project Background

The downgrade came as a response to high pathogen levels detected by the National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP) monitoring of water quality around harvestable shellfish beds. When it comes to shellfish, bacteria are a concern because filter-feeding shellfish such as oysters and clams are filter feeders, feeding on algae floating in the water column. When high levels of pathogens are present in water bodies, these animals can accumulate pathogens in their bodies as they feed. This is a concern in bivalve shellfish, like oysters, which are often consumed raw, making bactertia present in these animals a health concern for the shellfish industry. High levels of enteric bacteria that the NSSP tests for, such as fecal coliforms, Enterococcus faecalis and E. coli indicate non-point source pollution stemming from fecal sources which can from santiary line infrastructure issues or other sources.

The Rally for the Navesink laucnhed with the goal of tracking down some of these sources and with the help of local municipalities and governments, eliminating sources of pollution, eliminating sources of pollution. This may include fidning a damaged sewer line that is leaking into a stormwater line and repairing it, finding a leaky septic tank, and repairing it. Other sources may come from high levels of animal waste inputs, such as from large congregations of migratory waterfowl, mismanaged domestic animal waste such as from dogs, cats or even large animals such as horses or cows. These can be solved by bird abatement and control methods, and for domestic animals, using best practices for the management of animal waste, such as properly disposing of cat and dog waste. The Key to solving these issues though, is first tracking down the non-point source pollution down and identifying it!

The Rally for the Navesink program depended on a group of dedicated community scientists that dedicated their time to helping Clean Ocean Action collect water samples from across the Navesink River watershed. These samples were then sent to NJDEP for bacteriological analysis. The Rally for the Navesink ran successfully from 2016-2020 and had to be put on hold due to COVID. Since then, multiple areas of the Navesink have seen an improvement in water quality, and some areas are close to being upgraded. 

Due to the success of the Rally for the Navesink project and an ongoing need to continue monitoring water quality and pathogen pollution within the watershed, the Rally for the Navesink was re-launched this year. With the re-launch also came an expansion of the project into the Shrewsbury River watershed, as both the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers are intricately linked waterways and share many of the same water quality issues.  

Sampling for the Navesink River started in July and is ongoing, with ambient sampling occurring on a weekly basis, every Wednesday from 7:30am to 9:30am. Shrewsbury sampling has not yet launched, but is tentatively planned to start Oct 17th but once launched will occur every other Tuesday from 7:30am-9:30am. If you are from the area, we are actively recruiting volunteers to join our team of community scientists for Rally for the Two Rivers.

How to get involved

• If interested in volunteering for the Rally for Two Rivers program, please complete the Community Science Volunteer Form here. 

• For any questions or further information, please contact programs@CleanOceanAction.org

• Visit the Rally For the Two Rivers Facebook page for important updates and events.

• For more information, please visit the Rally for the Two Rivers Google Drive Folder.

Click here to explore the Rally for the Two Rivers Waterway Mindfulness Toolkit!

Presented by Clean Ocean Action, with contributions from Rally for the Two Rivers Alliance partners, this toolkit is a compilation of educational resources that will help to instill "waterway mindfulness" in residents of all ages throughout the Two Rivers watershed. With lesson plans, hands-on activities, and other virtual learning resources, this toolkit is perfect for teachers, parents, students and anyone interested to explore!