This project represents a significant technical milestone in the restoration of aquatic life habitat, namely dissolved oxygen conditions, in the most impacted portion of the Delaware River Estuary. The project represents a relatively rare illustration of an intensive monitoring program driving a state-of-the-art modeling effort was applied to determine specific load reductions that will lead directly to meaningful ecological restoration.

DRBC is currently working with USEPA and the estuary States of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania to implement the findings of this study. This project benefitted from an impressive list of partners, inclusive of a multidisciplinary team of scientists, engineers and managers who performed the work, the Model Expert Panel and expert consultants, the members of the Water Quality Advisory Committee, the public and private organizations that provided necessary funding and data, and the 75 wastewater treatment facilities that provided data. Being performed by a public/private multidisciplinary partnership dedicated to improving water quality, this project truly embodies the essence and mission of the NJ-AWRA.

More information regarding this project may be found here: https://www.nj.gov/drbc/programs/quality/designated-use.html