A Northeast Region Program

Dennis Reidenbach
Regional Director

Education: A Great Egg Harbor River Centerpiece

Education has been a centerpiece on the Great Egg Harbor Wild and Scenic River since the beginning. It was the Great Egg Harbor Watershed Association, an educational non-profit organization, that sought designation for the Great Egg Harbor River, and it has continued to provide a focus on education, outreach and advocacy.

The Watershed Association's latest project, an adopt-a-stream program, is bringing students to the water's edge and raising awareness and interest across a broad spectrum of Atlantic County, New Jersey. With assistance from the National Park Service, the Watershed Association established the adopt-a-stream program for middle- and high-schoolers in Egg Harbor Township and taught teachers how to sample water quality on the muddy bottom stream.

Watershed Association Creates Field Workbooks

The Watershed Association created field workbooks based on the streamside biosurvey developed by the Izaak Walton League of America to guide teacher's lectures and stream sampling. Together, the Watershed Association and the teachers developed guidebooks for students as well. The schools reported their water quality findings to the N.J. Department of the Environment for use in assessing streams within the Great Egg Harbor River and Watershed.

Students Become Educators

The students didn't stop with reporting their findings. They've turned their program into a highly successful outreach tool by also reporting their findings and an evaluation of the Adopt-A-Stream program to locally elected officials to gain continued support for the program. The students also broadcast their presentations on the local cable channel using video clips of their field work and interviews, to promote environmental awareness about the river and the watershed. The schools plan to make their program available to all schools in the county by sharing their videos over the Atlantic County Library's distance learning program via direct T3 Internet connections.

Grant Helps Program Grow

Student and teacher enthusiasm for the program has helped it grow. In 2000, Atlantic County supported the program with a watershed management grant, enabling it to expand into Hamilton Township Middle School. It has been an excellent awareness tool to educate students, teachers, and locally elected officials about the importance of protecting rivers and streams in their area.

Last Updated:
July 18, 2008