New Jersey American Water (NJAW) is currently trying to sell 8 acres of mixed forest, field, and wetlands to a private housing developer.
Because this land is protected, NJAW needs to obtain an exemption from the Watershed Protection and Moratorium Act in order to begin building. On May 11, 2023, they will appear before the NJ Watershed Property Review Board and make a case for this exemption. The purpose of the Watershed Protection and Moratorium Act is to protect water quality and encourage open space preservation. If the Board grants NJAW an exemption from this Act, they will be doing the exact opposite of what the Act intends to do, which is to protect our watershed.
To protect our drinking water, to prevent flooding, and to conserve our precious wetlands, we must act NOW to STOP developers from bypassing environmental protection laws!
Read the easement request here (link to public listing not working. File is large so not hosted on this page, but available by request - email us at savecanoebrook at gmail)
This photo is taken from the area to be demolished, overlooking more wetland, canoe brook, and the reservoir. We cannot risk this vital habitat, or the financial and human costs.
Health & Financial Impacts
The canoe brook land facing development protects the drinking water of over 100,000 people, purifies our air, and limits financially catastrophic flood and erosion events.
Residents and taxpayers will shoulder the burden in their health and financial well-being for generations to come if we do not act now
Ecological Harms
The area to be bulldozed and paved includes a mature woodlot with trees up to a century old, which is home to the federally endangered Indiana Bat. It also contains micro-wetlands and native wildflower meadows which contain vital populations of native species.
Downhill of the development is a large wetland and freshwater brook at risk of being being degraded through construction and runoff, which will have devastating consequences to these vital and rare ecosystems.