Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership

10/20/2026

During the week of October 3-10, we steamed our garboard planks to curve into the bow, and shaved the keelson to fit the outer stem of the bow. We cut a new piece of deadwood to combine with the transom, and glued them together. Volunteers also made "buttons" to keep our garboard from falling off the forms!

10/18/2026

GORGEOUS day for coLAB Arts inaugural in downtown New Brunswick! Huge thanks to Dr. Johnny and Thinkery & Verse and Central Jersey Sewa volunteers for helping the Lower Raritan Watershed partnership talk up Watershed health, and getting folks to roll up their sleeves and make clay turtles mixed with wildflower seeds. These cute little sculptures will be nestled into areas that need an assist with groundcover. We also got a bonus sneak preview of LRWP Trash Troubadour 's trash-art-instruments concept for our spring 2027 programming!!

10/15/2026

Kudos to Environment New Jersey and Njpirg Student Chapters for release of their new report: "Forever Chemicals in America's Rivers and Lakes," which analyzes federal and state data from 1,602 locations to identify PFAS (Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) also known as "Forever Chemicals" at 83% of sites sampled.

New Jersey still has no surface quality standards for PFAS. Standards are what make a pollutant count. The Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership calls on Governor Sherrill and the NJDEP to move forward on setting criteria for PFAS, and we urge the NJ Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee to advance S4468 that would fund monitoring in our rivers and private wells that tell us where these chemicals are.

Environment New Jersey released findings on Wednesday along the banks of the Raritan River showing elevated levels of what are known as “forever chemicals,” or PFAS, at testing sites statewide along waterways.

10/10/2026

Pathogens monitoring 2026 is a wrap!!! Mixed results, despite little precipitation so please be smart about washing up after on water activities. HUGE thanks to Dr. Johnny Meyer and the rest of the AMAZING volunteers for their support for this program. YOU ALL ARE THE BEST!!! See you in 2027!!!

10/08/2026

Thank you NJ Clean Communities for honoring the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership with the 2026 Clean Waterways Award!!

10/07/2026

10/06/2026

Weekly boat build recap from our high school boat builders Suchita and Carol: "During the week September 27-October 3, the boat build team planed down and scarfed our Atlantic Cedar wood in preparation to make our planks. On Saturday we steamed the garboard planks to the shape of the boat!"

09/26/2026

News from the LRWP Boat Shop, contributed by Suchita & Carol: "This week, starting on Tuesday, we shaped our first garboard for the last time (hopefully). On Wednesday, we epoxied the keel onto the keelson. On Saturday we glued the outer stern together. The final photo is of a squamosal whale bone (cheek bone) donated by a Highland Park resident!

09/26/2026

Raritan River pathogens results for September 24, 2026 are mixed. Folks probably won't be recreating on water in the middle of a Nor'Easter, if you do choose to go out on the River this weekend, be safe and wash up well. Thank you volunteers!!!