 Winter's beauty often comes with a hidden environmental cost. As snow melts, the salt used on roads, parking lots, and sidewalks washes directly into our local streams, sometimes briefly raising their salt content to levels as high as the ocean.
This surge of salinity can have significant consequences for aquatic life and the health of our waterways, while also having an adverse impact on roads and bridges. However, it can be hard to correlate the affects of excess road salt use, which is why it is crucial to collect data on the amount salt in freshwater streams during the colder season. That information can help in development of effective solutions. According to Dr. John Jackson of the Stroud Water Research Center, the amount of salt in our local waterways has dramatically increased over the past few decades, thanks in large part to the growing use of road salt during winter. In addition to environmental issues, road salt also accelerates the breakdown of concrete on roads and bridges.  Students from CRHS getting instructions for collecting benthic macroinvertebrates From 2018 to 2023, the American Littoral Society embarked on a vital project, collecting data from five freshwater streams in Cumberland County, NJ.
Funded by the William Penn Foundation and in partnership with local non-profits, this initiative aimed to establish a baseline for stream health and track changes over time. These streams, all tributaries of the Cohansey and Maurice Rivers, ultimately flow into the Delaware Bay, highlighting the crucial connection between healthy streams and a healthy bay. One of these sites, Loper Run, located adjacent to Cumberland Regional High School (CRHS), became a focal point for student involvement and a compelling case study in environmental change. In 2018, with the help of CRHS students, the Littoral Society installed a rain garden along Loper Run. This wasn't just any rain garden, it was strategically placed to intercept a clear line of erosion from the school parking lot, preventing sediment runoff from polluting the stream.  Mantoloking, NJ following Superstorm Sandy in 2012. (Photo by Greg Thompson - US Fish & Wildlife Service) In recent years, coastal storms have had a heavy impact on the North Atlantic coast of the United States.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was tasked in 2013 - just after Superstorm Sandy, which caused $37 billion in damage to New Jersey alone - with investigating measures to manage future flood risk “in ways that support the long-term resilience and sustainability of the coastal ecosystem and surrounding communities, and reduce the economic costs and risks associated with flood and storm events.” Initial work led to recommendations for massive storm surge barriers along the New Jersey Atlantic shoreline. However, the USACE recently released a New Jersey Back Bays (NJBB) Feasibility Study that provides a different roadmap for protecting lives, property, and ecosystems across this vulnerable region. Here’s what everyone should know about the plan: |
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