What is Rally for the Two Rivers?
The Rally for the Two Rivers (RTR), established by Clean Ocean Action (COA) in 2016, is an award-winning (Governor's Environmental Excellence Award, 2024) Program and is an ongoing collaborative effort to find, fix, and eliminate sources of pollution from stormwater runoff and restore and improve the water quality of coastal watersheds. RTR is currently focusing on the trackdown and elimination of bacterial pollution including human sources that have closed the shellfish harvesting areas and routinely impact secondary contact ecreation activities (e.g. fishing, kayaking, boating, wading etc.) in the Navesink and Shrewsbury River (Two Rivers) watershed in Monmouth County.
At the core of this Program is a well-designed, community science based weekly/biweekly water quality monitoring by trained volunteers and in-house laboratory investigations using cost-efficient USEPA-approved bacteriological IDEXX methods. RTR monitoring operates under a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) that has been approved by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) wherein community scientists trained by COA participate in sampling and monitoring activities. The data collected is then used by COA for public outreach and for collaborative municipal efforts which has resulted in the successful elimination of the pollution sources. These findings are also used by NJ DEP annually to evaluate the water quality health and determine shellfish harvest designations in reappraisal reports for shellfish growing areas NE2 (Navesink River) and NE3 (Shrewsbury River) respectively.
The ongoing bacteria monitoring has successfully identified many sources including human, domestic pets and wildlife. COA has collaborated with municipalities to eliminate these sources resulting in a significant improvement to water quality in many areas in the watershed.
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.
Project Background
Clean Ocean Action (COA) established the Rally for the Navesink coalition in 2016 to address the chronic pathogen pollution and the 2015 downgrade of 500+ acres of shellfish harvesting areas in the Navesink River to a prohibited harvest classification by NJDEP. The Rally model is a strategic “no-blame”, collaborative, track down approach with a specific goal – to find, fix, and eliminate sources of pathogen pollution.
Historically, the Navesink River has been home to a variety of rich marine life including fish, shellfish, and waterfowl. More importantly, with 2,520 acres of shellfish harvesting areas, it is the only remaining direct shellfish harvesting area in the New York – New Jersey estuary. However, in recent decades, areas that were once thriving shellfish beds have suffered from the effects of pathogen pollution impacting these waterways. Stormwater runoff and wet-weather events exacerbate the spread of pathogen pollutants through transport from land to water.
Common sources of pathogen pollution:
(i) human fecal pollution from leaky/damaged sanitary sewer infrastructure, improperly managed/failing septic systems, and illicit connections
(ii) improper disposal of pet waste from dogs and cats
(iii) domestic waste run off from livestock such as horses, cattle, etc.
(iv) Fecal pollution from local wildlife (ie. Birds)
Click here to view NJDEP's National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP) classification map for Shellfish Harvesting.
As a first step of the program, COA published an in-depth report detailing the history of pathogen pollution in the Navesink watershed (COA, 2016) and highlighted key concerns and recommendations. These included (i) monitoring and investigating potential pathogen sources upstream of the river (ii) monitoring for fecal indicator bacteria under ambient conditions and wet-weather conditions and (iii) collaboratively utilizing the data to determine and remove sources.
Subsequently, the Rally for the Navesink collaborated with local municipalities and NJDEP to conduct an innovative source track down study in 2016 using scent-trained canines and analytical laboratory verification to monitor and track down sources of bacteria pollution in the watershed. These canine screening investigations were conducted to identify likely human sources of fecal pollution. The findings were then used to launch the COA-DEP collaborative ambient weekly bacteria monitoring program in the summer of 2017.
The program depended on the help of community scientists to collect water samples and adhered to the requirements of an NJDEP-approved Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP, 2017). All RTR community scientists were trained by COA and NJDEP, and collected more than 3,000 samples for three years. The collected samples were analyzed in NJDEP’s Leeds Point Laboratory until the program was put on hold due to the Covid pandemic in 2020.
The results helped to identify likely upstream pollution sources and enabled municipalities to implement targeted efforts to eliminate these sources. The Rally also focused on continuing public engagement, outreach, and watershed mindfulness through supplemental education curriculum for K-12 students. 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 pathogen pollution within the watershed, the expanded Rally for the Two Rivers Ambient Bacteria Monitoring Program was relaunched in the summer of 2023 to monitor the Navesink and Shrewsbury River watersheds. All samples collected from the Shrewsbury watershed are being analyzed at COA’s in-house Water Quality laboratory.
Sampling Schedule
Navesink River sampling is ongoing weekly, every Wednesday from 7:30am to 9:30am.
Shrewsbury sampling occurs bi-weekly with sampling 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!
Click here to access the Two Rivers Watershed Water Quality Reporting Form
Community members can use this resource to report water quality observations within the Navesink and Shrewsbury Rivers to Clean Ocean Action. Responses will provide critical information on what is happening in our waterways and fill information gaps for our ongoing water quality monitoring programs. Potential observations can include fish kills, algae blooms, debris in the water, or anything that seems out of the ordinary. Thank you in advance for your time and commitment to the health of our waterways!
Please note: This form is for informational purposes only. For immediate action, please contact the NJDEP via 1-877-WARNDEP (1-877-927-6337) or the WARN NJDEP app.
Looking to volunteer? Check out our flyer below for more details!
