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Mapping

The GIS Center

So what is GIS? GIS – Geographic Information Systems — is a tool that enables us to assess, understand and interpret data in a variety of ways to reveal relationships, trends and patterns. The Watershed Association’s GIS Center uses mapping and other GIS tools to help us answer questions and solve problems.

By looking at different layers of information in a way that is easily understood and shared — everything from types of land use and wildlife habitat, to infrastructure or proposed development —GIS helps us understand relationships and communicate impacts on our water and environment to the public, government leaders, landowners and other non-profit organizations.

Projects

GIS helps us take a fresh look at data, issues and problems in a myriad of ways. Here are just a few samples of the types of projects where GIS can help reveal new information and important trends.

State of the Watershed Report

What are the environmental problems facing our watershed? Why are they happening and what can we do to help? Using a combination of data from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection and our own StreamWatch water quality data, environmental policy analysis and land use data the State of the Watershed Report illustrates the conditions facing our watershed today and what we need to do to make a difference. It shows that “people” pollution — things like excess fertilizers, leaking septic and sewer systems, pet waste and trash — is having a tremendous impact on the health and quality of our water. Stronger environmental policies and changes in our everyday behavior are essential to improve our watershed.

Here’s an example of just one of the water quality maps that appears in the report:

Read the full report to learn how you can help.

Sewer Service Map

In 2008, the state Department of Environmental Protection adopted new regulations to help protect critical water resources and sensitive habitats through wastewater planning by focusing appropriate growth back into cities and other recognized growth areas. For the first time, with the Water Quality Management Plan Rules, New Jersey directed counties to keep new sewer lines out of environmentally sensitive areas, defined as contiguous areas of 25 acres or more that contain habitat for endangered or threatened species, wetlands and buffers around pristine “category one” water bodies, and natural heritage areas. Preventing sewer lines from running through environmentally sensitive areas is critical to minimizing development in those areas because sewer lines can promote dense development which can devastate New Jersey’s last remaining sensitive habitats and clean water.

We created two maps to help educate the public and assist counties and municipalities as they prepare the new sewer plans. There are many places in New Jersey where land that is not yet developed should be removed from the sewer service area to protect clean water and environmentally sensitive areas and therefore to comply with the new rules.

The Sewer Service Comparison Map shows where old sewer service areas (yellow) are overlapping with undeveloped environmentally sensitive areas (green), which results in areas of red. The areas in red are the sewer service areas that need to be removed in order to comply with NJDEP rules.

Download the Sewer Service Map

The Environmentally Sensitive Areas Map uses the overlapping sewer service areas and environmentally sensitive area data from the above map, but segregates them based on New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan (NJSDRP) planning areas. The NJSDRP is designed to direct growth and development in New Jersey. However, the NJSDRP fails to plan adequately for protection of New Jersey’s water and environmentally sensitive areas. The NJSDRP should embrace the new sewer service area maps as a means of planning to ensure that New Jersey residents and businesses have clean water for the future and that we keep dense development out of our last remaining environmentally sensitive areas for the next generation. Map 2 demonstrates how much environmentally sensitive areas would be developed if sewer service areas were allowed in each planning area.

Forest and Riparian Conservation Plan

What areas in central New Jersey are high priority targets for preservation and restoration? As a member of the Raritan-Piedmont Wildlife Habitat Partnership (RPWHP) — a diverse group of private and public organizations — the Watershed Association is working to find out. Through a grant from Conservation Resources Inc. (made possible by the Duke Charitable Foundation), the Watershed Association and RPWHP are creating a “Forest and Riparian Conservation Plan” for the Central Piedmont Plains — an area of central New Jersey that connects the Pinelands in the south to the Highlands in the north.

Using priorities identified for this region by the state Wildlife Action Plan (found at www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/ensp/waphome.htm) the RPWHP conservation plan identifies specific target locations for preservation or restoration of our forests and river corridors.

Learn more in the Spring 2010 issue of Wellspring.

Princeton Ridge Preserve

The Princeton Ridge is an ecologically sensitive region of Princeton Township that is in many ways similar to the Sourland Mountain just northwest of the Ridge. The Princeton Ridge is characterized by dense forest that provides habitat and food for a variety of wildlife and plants including several threatened and endangered species. The Ridge also provides respite for area residents who enjoy birding, hiking and cycling. We created the Proposed Princeton Ridge Preserve Map to support the Princeton Ridge Preserve initiative launched by Friends of Princeton Open Space, New Jersey Conservation Foundation and dedicated individuals. The Princeton Township Committee has endorsed the idea of a Princeton Ridge Preserve and has designated funds to help implement this goal. This map identifies land parcels that if preserved would better protect the ecologically sensitive Ridge for this and future generations.

Since public GIS layers on open space were limited or scattered in what they showed, the GIS Center created a new open space layer specifically for the Princeton Ridge Preserve. We used a combination of GIS open space layers and paper maps as references in order to come up with a complete and comprehensive open space layer for the Ridge.

Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment

The Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Report is produced every other year and identifies whether waterways in New Jersey meet or violate a set of water quality standards.

To see how the water quality in our region has changed over time, we combined 2002 to 2008 Integrated Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment data into a series of maps so that people can easily observe water quality trends in our watershed.

Millstone-NJDEP Water Quality 2002-2008: Agriculture
Millstone-NJDEP Water Quality 2002-2008: Aquatic Life
Millstone-NJDEP Water Quality 2002-2008: Drinking Water
Millstone-NJDEP Water Quality 2002-2008: Fish Consumption
Millstone-NJDEP Water Quality 2002-2008: Industry
Millstone-NJDEP Water Quality 2002-2008: Recreation

For more information please visit NJDEP’s Water Monitoring and Standards at http://www.state.nj.us/dep/wms/bwqsa/generalinfo.htm

Advocacy Maps

The GIS Center often creates maps to assist our Advocacy team. One example is a Block and Lot Map showing what habits and streams may be affected if development were to occur on a particular property. Having these maps shows us how development can disturb the ecology and habitats surrounding it.

Water Resource Protection

To help municipal leaders better understand the natural resources in the town they govern, the Watershed Association developed a series of reports titled: Water Resource Protection in Your Municipality. Each report takes information from the Raritan Basin Watershed Management Project and compiles and interprets it for Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed municipalities.

From hundreds of pages of research, the Watershed Association selected information on the following topics that can be used to strengthen a town’s Master Planning efforts, local zoning decisions, and ordinances: ground water recharge, soil suitability for agriculture & important farmland soils, soils posing construction constraints, streamside habitat and, threatened and endangered species habitats.

The following map is an example from the Plainsboro Township Water Resource Protection report showing streamside habitat loss over the years. Streamside habitat supports surface water ecosystems and help protect streams, lakes, rivers and other waterways from environmental degradation. We are currently in the phase of updating these maps with new data.

Riparian Area Conversion in Plainsboro Township