The Camden County Commissioners have announced a $400-million investment in water quality throughout the county.
Seeing improvements will be Cooper River, Kirkwood Lake, Atco Lake, Evans Pond, Wallworth Lake and other county bodies of water. The work involves wastewater infrastructure, stormwater management, habitat restoration, sediment remediation, dredging, bank stabilization and recreational improvements.
Commissioner Jeffrey Nash said the various improvements will take place over an estimated 10 years but are necessary to improve the environment.
“We want to not only preserve the health and the ecology of those water bodies but also to enhance them,” he explained. “To make them cleaner for fishing and boating, sometimes swimming. So it’s a robust plan that we break down into three words. It’s replenish, repair and recreation.”
While some projects won’t happen until funding is secured, Nash pointed to work already underway and completed, such as dredging at the Cooper River, a necessity due to runoff.
A county press release noted that the changes will make the Cooper River and other county waterways “one of the cleanest and healthiest urban watersheds in the United States.”
Funding will come through state and federal funding, county capital investment, municipal participation, philanthropic support and public-private partnerships. Among the funding sources is the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank, which provides a low-interest loan for improving municipal water infrastructure.
Money could also be available if voters approve a referendum in November to increase the open-space and water-quality tax. That would mean an increase in the tax of $0.01, for a total of $0.03. The county commissioners have already put the referendum on the ballot.
Nash is confident that voters will approve.
“I honestly believe it’s going to pass,” he explained. “I’ve talked to many people in the community and the environment and water quality is one of the top environmental issues that people care deeply about. And people recognize that we have to maintain our water qualities. It doesn’t magically clean itself.
“We have to be vigilant and stay on top of it.”
Nash hopes to get as much money as possible through federal grants.
“Every administration has their own priorities,” he pointed out. “And we’re cautiously optimistic that the federal government will recognize the importance of these environmental projects. And we’re hopeful that the federal government will continue to fund them.
“But is it a concern? Of course.”
Since last year, the Trump administration has repeatedly denied funds to blue states like New Jersey. On July 14, it rescinded a freeze implemented in January on $10 billion in funding for various assistance programs in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York.
Three days later, a federal judge ruled that the administration had unlawfully revoked billions of dollars in grant funds for various state programs, including in New Jersey.
At an event announcing the county water investment, Camden City Mayor Victor Carstarphen said the improvements will help address flooding like the kind that occurred throughout the county on July 6 and 9.
“Just last week, the City of Camden and the region experienced terrible flooding conditions,” he recounted. “The restoration of our waterways is essential to aid with the management of stormwater and preservation of our natural environment. Not only is this important for the short term, but for future generations.”
Nash also hopes people can one day swim in the Cooper River.
“Now it’s our job to make sure that the water goes to the next level,” he added. “That the water is cleaner than ever before. That people can fish and maybe even swim one day in the Cooper River.
“Aspirational.”
The Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority did not respond to a request for comment.
Wallworth Lake is among county bodies of water that will see wastewater infrastructure and other projects to improve water quality.
