River Cleanup Planned For Long Valley Celebrates Earth Day

LONG VALLEY, NJ — You can help celebrate Earth Day locally through taking care of our planet by participating in the Musconetcong Watershed Association's annual river cleanup.

This year's clean-up event is scheduled for Saturday, April 15, beginning at 9 a.m.

According to officials, the Musconetcong Watershed Association river cleanup attracts hundreds of volunteers to remove trash from various locations along the Musconetcong River, from Lake Hopatcong to the Delaware River confluence.

To see a full list of available clean-up sites along the watershed, click here.

The Musconetcong Watershed Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and improving the quality of the Musconetcong River and its Watershed, as well as its natural and cultural resources.

The area they cover is the 157.6 square mile drainage area of the Musconetcong River in northwest New Jersey, which includes all or parts of 25 municipalities and portions of the counties of Morris, Hunterdon, Warren and Sussex.

The Musconetcong Watershed Association has also been running the River Watcher Water Quality Monitoring Program for over a decade. It is a citizen science water quality monitoring program that assesses the health of the river.

Volunteers test the water chemistry and take physical measurements at five different locations along the river four times a year. Every year, they assess the physical habitat and collect aquatic organisms (known as benthic macroinvertebrates) because the invertebrates indicate the presence of pollutants and changes in the river's environment over time.

These tests, when combined, provide the association with critical information about local water quality and overall ecosystem health.

The planned river clean-up will last two hours, and all volunteers are invited to join the association for a BBQ cookout at the Musconetcong Watershed Association's River Resource Center headquarters, which is located at 10 Maple Avenue in Asbury.

" This event is free for all volunteers as a thank-you for your dedication in helping to keep the Musconetcong River clean and healthy," the Musconetcong Watershed Association said.