SEPTEMBER 2026

WATER PAGES eNEWSLETTER

The Climate Leaders

For the second time in one week, I had the great pleasure of visiting Duke Farms.  Tonight was the New Jersey Climate Leader gathering.  All my favorite people were there, people I truly respect. Even though the NJDEP Commissioner gave an inspirational speech, the overall theme of the night was “don’t give up.” While not a very motivating theme, it certainly had a touch of realism.  The people in this room were not going to stop climate change, no matter how many of them switch to electric cars.  Stopping climate change will take a worldwide movement, and the world is too busy lining their pockets.

The best we can do is make our communities more resilient. This will require some creative engineering, a lot of coercion of property owners, and money, lots of money. We can require towns to implement climate resilience projects, but property taxes will soar, and we already have the highest property taxes in the nation. We can rely on grant funding, but there simply is not enough grant dollars to do what is needed. So where does that leave us?

Individual property owners, residents, and businesses, will have to take on the responsibility for the impact of their impervious cover.  Rain gardens, rainwater harvesting systems, bioswales, and pervious paving systems will need to be implemented by property owners.  But how do we get them to do this?

1.     Convince people that they are part of the problem

2.     Convince people that if they act, others will also act

3.     Convince people that cumulative action will make a difference

Or we can just keep streaming Netflix series and wait for the floodwaters to engulf our homes.

It probably shouldn’t matter to me.  I am old and don’t have much time left.  Climate change won’t kill me.  The bourbon and cheesesteaks are going to take me out. But, I care.  I have children, so I’ll keep fighting.

Join me. Let’s do our part and maybe, just maybe, we can make a difference.  But then again, the fourth season of Reacher is on Amazon Prime and there are pizza rolls in the freezer. I guess I am headed to the air fryer.  I can start building another rain garden tomorrow.

~ Christopher C. Obropta, Ph.D., P.E., Extension Specialist in Water Resources 

Caldwell Expands Green Infrastructure Footprint

Three rain gardens, were completed this summer in the Borough of Caldwell, funded by a 2022 Stormwater Management Grant for Water Quality and Quantity Improvements from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The rain gardens were designed and built at the Sisters of St Dominic, St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church, and Grover Cleveland Park of the Essex County Parks System.

Each of the rain gardens is green stormwater infrastructure designed to manage stormwater runoff from existing impervious surfaces on a site, like the rooftop or pavement. The gardens are planted with resilient native grasses, flowering plants, and shrubs, stabilizing soil and providing pollinator wildlife habitat.

• The 175 square foot rain garden at the Sisters of St. Dominic manages a rooftop drainage area of 700 square feet and is designed to manage 16,506 gallons of stormwater annually. 

• The 455 square foot rain garden at St. Aloysius Church manages a rooftop drainage area of 1,845 square feet and is designed to manage 43,565 gallons of stormwater annually. 

• The 135 square foot rain garden at Grover Cleveland Park manages a rooftop drainage area of 1,050 square feet and is designed to manage 24,895 gallons of stormwater annually. 

Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program provided engineering design and technical support with construction and planting and construction oversight while a local contractor completed the site work. Volunteers for planting the rain gardens were organized by Caldwell Environmental Commission, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Essex County Master Gardeners, and the Grover Cleveland Park Conservancy. These rain gardens build on previous efforts of the community including a rain garden built in 2019 at the First Presbyterian Church as a part of a grant from Sustainable Jersey.

Sisters of St. Dominic project site before rain garden construction

Sisters of St. Dominic during rain garden construction

Newly planted rain garden at Sisters of St. Dominic, Caldwell, NJ

St. Aloysius Church project site before rain garden construction

St. Aloysius Church rain garden during construction

Newly planted rain garden at St. Aloysius Church, Caldwell, NJ

Grover Cleveland Park project site before rain garden construction

Grover Cleveland Park rain garden during construction

Newly planted rain garden at Grover Cleveland Park, Caldwell, NJ

[Photo credit: Chris Perz, RCE Water Resources Program]