 Category One Waters
One of the most significant provisions of the new Stormwater Management rules is the requirement for a 300-foot buffer minimizing new development adjoining Category One (C1) surface water bodies (rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, ponds) and their tributaries. Category One waters are waters that receive special protection under the New Jersey Surface Water Quality Standards because of their clarity, color, scenic setting or other characteristics of aesthetic value, exceptional ecological significance, exceptional recreational significance, exceptional water supply significance or exceptional fisheries resource(s).
Those areas within 300 feet of Category One waters and their immediate tributaries are considered special water resource protection areas (SWRPA). The special water resource protection area is extended to include those waters that drain to the Category One water within the limits of the associated sub-watershed (HUC-14).
The special water resource protection area is intended as a buffer between development and these special waters in order to protect both water quality and the attributes for which the waters have been designated. The NJDEP determined that 300-feet are necessary to prevent water quality degradation and to protect the attributes for which Category One waters have been designated.
The rules provide for some flexibility on the size of the buffers in areas where stormwater management plans have been approved and for minor disturbances around existing development within the 300-foot buffer. The 300-foot buffer is measured perpendicular to and outward on each side of the stream from the top of bank of the water, or from the centerline of the stream, if the stream does not have a defined bank. The NJDEP has to approve all new major development in SWRPAs. Where NJDEP Land Use Regulation Program (LURP) permits are required, the review is done under those rules. Where LURP permits are not required, the review is done by the NJDEP Division of Watershed Management.
Existing development in a SWRPA is not regulated. This includes existing houses, other buildings or accessory structures and landscaped or cultivated areas, and maintenance of these existing features is also not regulated. Activities including pruning of trees, mowing of existing lawns, tilling existing agricultural fields are not regulated. New construction or expansion to existing structures that will disturb an acre or more of the property or that would increase impervious surfaces by on-quarter acre or more is considered "major development" and is regulated. Expansion or extension of existing development or landscape alteration, if it is part of an activity that is considered "major development," is regulated.
The buffers impact about 6,093 stream miles in New Jersey – including 3,307 miles of currently designated C1 rivers and streams and an additional 2,786 miles of non-C1 tributaries (HUC-14s) to C1 streams. Currently, there are three Category One SWRPAs within Gloucester County.
- Harrisonville Lake Wildlife Management Area – including Oldman’s Creek and Harrisonville Lake within the Harrisonville WMA and classified FW2-NT(C1).
- Logan Pond Wildlife Management Area – including Pargey Creek and Logan Pond within the Logan WMA and classified FW2-NT/SE2(C1).
- Glassboro Wildlife Management Area – including Little Ease Run and Beaverdam Branch within the Glassboro WMA and classified FW2-NT(C1), except FW1 tributaries.
For more information about New Jersey’s Category one Waters go to
http://www.nj.gov/dep/cleanwater/c1.html
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