The CNJWA is a non-profit 501c3 organization dedicated to the conservation of NJ watershed management area20 The Central New Jersey Watershed Association Crafts Creek –Spring Hill Brook Chapter is a non-profit organization formed to protect water-related resources. This monitoring program is designed to complete the following objectives:
1. Assess and report water quality, biological integrity, and visual indicators of stream health.
2. Monitor water quality and macroinvertebrate ecology trends over time through usage of fixed network monitoring data.
3. Conduct visual stream monitoring to document changes in stream conditions.
4. Contribute water quality and macroinvertebrate information to the NJDEP integrated list assessment database.
--Description of the Watershed--
Crafts Creek and Spring Hill Brook (Figure 2) are parallel tributaries draining westward to the Delaware River. They are located primarily in Mansfield Township, Burlington County, NJ. According to the Mansfield Township Environmental Resource Inventory (2006), Crafts Creek is 11 miles long from headwaters to mouth, and consists primarily of small first and second order headwater streams draining the inner coastal plain of New Jersey. Spring Hill Brook, also known as “Crystal Creek”, is about 2.5 miles long. A dam at the mouth of Spring Hill Brook receives about 8-12 inches of tidal overflow twice daily from the tidal Delaware River. Both streams drain similar topography, through deciduous, wooded wetlands, corn and soybean farms, and increasing suburban sprawl development. Major highways corridors run through both watersheds – Routes 68, 206,
the NJ Turnpike and its Pennsylvania extension, and Route 130. Low gradient stream channels consist of a mix of soft, heavy silt, sandy silt mixes, and gravel/sand mixes. Both streams have significant areas of hard clay bottom. Many of the smallest tributaries are dry during summer drought conditions. Both streams drain soils that are moderately to severely erosion prone. Both streams have been extensively ditched and channelized to accommodate
agricultural, transportation, and industrial uses. Both streams contain man-made lakes formed by dams. At the mouth of Spring Hill Brook is Crystal Lake, a chain of two man-made lakes formerly used for ice harvesting. The upstream lake has been completely filled with fine sediment, supposedly due to upstream construction activities. Both streams may contain toxic runoff from pesticides, herbicides, highway and truck-stop runoff, landfills, and industrial sites. Both waterways are used for primary contact recreation, and endangered or threatened species using the water resources include wood turtles, bog turtles, iron color shiners and bald eagles. The wetlands and woodlands
surrounding Crystal Lake are the last stand of natural deciduous forest on the east side of the Delaware River between Trenton and Camden, NJ. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has designated the following uses for Crafts Creek and Spring Hill Brook:
FW2-NT (freshwater 2, non-trout)
1. Maintenance, migration and propagation of the natural and established biota;
2. Primary and secondary contact recreation;
3. Industrial and agricultural water supply;
4. Public potable water supply after conventional filtration treatment (a series of processes including filtration, flocculation, coagulation, and sedimentation, resulting in substantial particulate removal but no consistent removal of chemical constituents) and disinfection; and
5.Any other reasonable uses.
