{"id":2472,"date":"2021-09-25T08:40:40","date_gmt":"2021-09-25T12:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/?p=2472"},"modified":"2021-10-08T08:46:11","modified_gmt":"2021-10-08T12:46:11","slug":"governor-murphy-signs-10-million-lakes-funding-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/2021\/09\/25\/governor-murphy-signs-10-million-lakes-funding-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Governor Murphy Signs $10 Million Lake’s Funding Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On September 24th, Governor Murphy signed S-3618\/A-5778<\/a>, making a $10 million appropriation for management and maintenance of lakes in New Jersey for recreation and conservation purposes.<\/p>\n

Below is a Press Release from the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Governor Murphy Signs $10 Million Lakes Funding Bill<\/strong>
\nThe $10 million supplemental appropriation for grants for certain lake management activities for recreation and conservation purposes is the most significant investment in the Lake Hopatcong and Greenwood Lake areas in recent history. The bill recognizes that in these ecologically significant regions, lakes play a critical role to residents throughout the State by providing the supply of drinking water, watershed protection, recreational and conservation purposes.<\/p>\n

Advocating for substantial funding of New Jersey\u2019s lakes is a main priority of the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed, a network of more than 160 nonpartisan organizations, 37 in NJ, working to protect and restore the 4-state region of New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed thanks Governor Murphy, and Senators Pennacchio, Oroho, and Bucco for their leadership in prioritizing clean water and robust funding for our lakes,\u201d said Kelly Knutson, Interim Director, Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed. \u201cThe new lakes funding law will fund projects that improve water quality, increase recreational access, and conduct efforts to control nutrient levels in lakes to prevent harmful algal blooms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only do our lakes provide millions of New Jersians a place to recreate and enjoy the outdoors, they are also a critical habitat for many of our wildlife species. Due to the warmer temperatures, harmful algae blooms (HABS) have affected our lakes by producing chemicals that can be toxic to humans and wildlife,\u201d said Dr. Eileen Murphy, Vice President of Government Relations for New Jersey Audubon. \u201cThanks to the leadership in the NJ legislature, as well as Governor Murphy, the $10 million Lakes Funding Bill will address algal blooms and weed proliferation that have threatened wildlife and swimming for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harmful algal blooms occur when colonies of microscopic algae or bacteria grow at exponential rates and produce toxins harmful to humans and wildlife. Exposure to these algal blooms can cause a range of health effects, including skin rashes, allergy-like reactions, flu-like symptoms, gastroenteritis, respiratory irritation and eye irritation. The issuance by the DEP of \u201cno contact\u201d advisories or other warnings cautioning against contact with the water in certain lakes due to the presence of harmful algal blooms directly impacts the public\u2019s use of lakes for recreation and conservation purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cLakes are arguably one of New Jersey\u2019s greatest resources. They provide access for millions of New Jersey state residents to enjoy swimming, fishing, boating, picnics, and general enjoyment of the outdoors,\u201d said Marty Kane, Board of Trustees Chairman for the Lake Hopatcong Foundation. \u201cUnfortunately, in recent years our lakes have been seriously challenged by harmful algal blooms and invasive species being spurred by the increased year-round temperatures. This legislation recognizes the importance of protecting and helping New Jersey\u2019s lakes and we are very grateful to the legislature and Governor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCongratulations to the Lake Hopatcong Foundation for their leadership in helping to secure funding for management and maintenance efforts of New Jersey\u2019s lakes. We are happy to see the health and safety of those who rely on the lakes for recreation and business being prioritized, \u201csaid Rebecca Hilbert, NJ State Lead, Coalition of the Delaware Watershed (CDRW) and Policy Assistant, NJ League of Conservation Voters. \u201cWe also look forward to working with elected officials and residents of lake communities to develop long term solutions to pollution and stormwater management.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill provides priority funding for stormwater and nonpoint source pollution management activities, if those activities would directly enhance, improve, or protect the use of the lake for recreation and conservation purposes, particularly to control harmful algal blooms in the future.<\/p>\n

Although this $10 million supplemental appropriation is critical to funding protection and restoration projects for NJ lakes, we will continue to work with lawmakers and partners to advocate for recurring State funding for the future of the lakes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On September 24th, Governor Murphy signed S-3618\/A-5778, making a $10 million appropriation for management and maintenance of lakes in New Jersey for recreation and conservation purposes. Below is a Press Release from the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed. Governor Murphy Signs $10 Million Lakes Funding Bill The $10 million …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-update"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2472"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2829,"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2472\/revisions\/2829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}