Water

Keeping it Clean

Land and water are intimately connected, each supporting the other in a continuous cycle of renewal. From the remote headwaters born in high mountain forests to the wide rivers draining into the tidal waters of oceans, the value of water hinges on its purity. And the numbers aren’t good.  According to EPA reports,  water quality throughout the eastern states is compromised. 77% of New York State’s lakes are impaired, and a third of North Carolina’s wetlands. Each year there are thousands of fish consumption advisories and hundreds of beach closings due to poor water quality. Pollution is coming from every direction, including acid rain, agricultural and urban runoff, leaking septic tanks, and rampant construction.

The Open Space Institute is dedicated to protecting lands that protect our water. In New Jersey, OSI contributed to the protection of the Cold Brook Watershed, which feeds the Raritan River and helps provide drinking water to 1.5 million people. We’re actively collaborating with New York State to figure out how the government can avoid spending millions of dollars on a new filtration system, and put the money instead into long-term permanent protection of the lands where our water comes from.

But drinking water is only the beginning of water’s importance. The viability of the commercial fishing and shell fishing industries also depend on clean water, and wetlands are an essential part of the water cycle, regulating river flow, filtering pollutants, and providing critical habitat for fish, plants, insects and birds. Maine, for example, has 46 rare wetland-dependent species, from the bald eagle to the Snortnose sturgeon. These precious filtration systems are disappearing, vanishing under infill as development reaches out to uncharted territory. In some states, half of the historical wetlands have been irreplaceably altered. The damage is ecological, but also economic. The wetlands that remain in New Jersey are valued at $5.5 billion, according to the Department of Interior. Whether to fill a drinking cup or nourish a newly planted field, humans are unequivocally dependent on clean, dependable water.