Urban Waters Partnership

Program Updates - Passaic River

2016

New funding for Urban Waters

Governor Christie's office is awarding more than $53 million in grants to communities within the watershed of the lower Passaic River and the Neward Bay complex. The grants seek to improve public access, restore wetlands ecosystems, and reconnect people to their urban waterways. The grants come from the 2014 Natural Resource Damage settlement, which compensate the public for the lack of use of natural resources due to pollution. 

Brainstorming on Homelessness Solutions

In October, the Lower Passaic Urban Waters Partnership held a meeting with homelessness service providers to brainstorm long-term solutions for the homeless community surrounding the river and the area of the soon-to-be-expanded Riverfront Park. 

2016 Governor's Environmental Excellence Award

The United Way of Union County has nominated EPA Urban Waters Grantee, Groundwork Elizabeth for the 2016 Governor's Environmental Excellence Award. Groundwork Elizabeth and its Green Team have implemented several positive changes within the community and EPA's Urban Waters Grants helped them achieve their great success. 

Read more here.Exit

Newark Riverfront Mapping Pilot!

May 2nd, 2016 -- The Lower Passaic River Urban Waters Federal Partnership hosted its first Newark Riverfront Mapping Pilot! Federal, state, municipal, and neighborhood stakeholders gathered together to map out interacting projects and identify leveraging opportunities. 

Public Workshop

May 12th, 2016 -- The Lower Passaic River Urban Waters Federal Partnership, with support from the NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary program, co-hosted with Ironbound Community Corporation and the Lower Passaic River Community Advisory Group a public workshop to identify threats and opportunities with respect to HEP’s Five Goals:

  1. Water Quality,
  2. Habitat Restoration,
  3. Public Access,
  4. Sediment/Port Management,
  5. Public Education.

Feedback from the meeting will be integrated into HEP’s 2017 Five Year Action Plan.

River Access Report

The New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program/Hudson River Foudnation and the USDA Forest Service produced a new report which provides, for the first time, a comprehensive account of where and how the public can access the New York - New Jersey Harbor and its tidal waters. The report, Connecting with Our Waterways: Public Access, is available online.

Read the full report here. Exit

Report confirms: More public access to the Harbor and its waters, but not for everyone

The Passaic River is along the stretch of coastline between the New York - New Jersey Harbor. A recent report highlighted that while 37% of that waterfront is accessible to the public. However, access is not distributed evenly along the shoreline and underserved communities live in areas with less access. For example, in the Passaic River between Neward and Paterson, over 96% of the waterfront is inaccessible.

Read the full report here. Exit

EPA plan for sediment removal complete

The US Environmental Protection Agency finalized a plan to remove 3.5 million cubic yards of toxic sediment from the lower eight miles of the Passaic River in New Jersey, followed by capping that entire stretch of river bottom.

Read more about key elements of the cleanup in the EPA News Release.

Passaic River Gets New Urban Waters Ambassador

This January, the Hudson River Foundation and the New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program have hired Sarah Lerman-Sinkoff to support the Partnership as the first Lower Passaic Urban Waters Ambassador. Ambassadors in each Urban Waters location support and coordinate efforts between local partners and stakeholders.

Read more about Sarah's background and the role she will play for the Lower Passaic and surrounding communities.Exit