New Jersey Lakes Management Program, Lakes Classification Study, Echo Lake, Mountainside, Union County

Public awareness has heightened in recent years concerning the degradation in water quality and recreational potential of many of the lakes, ponds, and reservoirs of New Jersey. The observed deterioration of water quality and its ramifications are accelerated by cultural factors. Although the eutrophication of a lake is a slow natural process - one which proceeds gradually over thousands of years, it may be accelerated by human activity. Watershed urbanization, the discharge of insufficiently treated sewage and septage, soil erosion, and the application of fertilizers all increase the nutrient load entering the receiving water body. Consequently, increased nutrient loads stimulate productivity and accelerate the eutrophication process. The fact that a lake is aging (eutrophic) is realized when symptoms such as taste and odor problems, algal blooms, nuisance growths of aquatic plants, oxygen depletion, the accumulation of organic sediments and fish kills are observed. It is at this point that a call for the improvement or restoration of the affected water body is publicly voiced. Recognizing the need to assist the local governments in managing their lakes, the Department's Lake Management Program was initiated in 1975. The development of a statewide inventory was followed shortly thereafter by water chemistry sampling at over 450 lakes. Approximately 30% of New Jersey's lakes were presumed to be eutrophic based on field observations and limited water chemistry data. Final determination of trophic state and the development of management plans, however, necessitated more extensive chemical sampling and analyses.Prepared under a grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with Section 314 of the Clean Water Act of 1977, PL. 95-217