Share Your Stormwater Story

March 17, 2022

Flooding in New Jersey is on the rise. If you live in one of the 21 municipalities with a combined sewer system, when it floods a combination of sewage and stormwater overflows into local waterways and far too often backs up into streets and homes. This is a public health crisis that needs immediate attention. If you live in Newark, Jersey City, Camden, or one of the other cities with a combined sewer system, we want to share your Stormwater Story.

Watch these video clips of Paterson residents sharing their Stormwater Stories.

William Priestly

Martha Arencibia

Yolanda Mateo

Mary Crooms

Share these on social media to help spread the word that combined sewer overflows need local, state, and federal attention. Sign up here to share your story. No one should have to live with sewage backing up into their homes.

What's Next for the Combined Sewer Overflow Plans?

In February, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) completed a series of stakeholder meetings to gather feedback on public participation, environmental justice, climate change, and metrics as it develops the next combined sewer overflow (CSO) permits. The permits will be tailored to each of the eight regional Long Term Control Plans. Each of the permits will include the specific projects and timeline, as well as metrics for evaluating progress and requirements for public engagement that will be implemented over the next five years. We expect that draft CSO permits will begin to be released this summer. There will be a 60-day public input period for each permit that is released. Learn more on the NJDEP CSO website.

Apply for the Sewage-Free Streets and Rivers Community Leaders Fellowship Program

Tomorrow (March 18, 2022) is the deadline to apply for the Sewage-Free Streets and Rivers Community Leaders Fellowship Program. The program is for emerging community leaders from communities with combined sewer systems who want to increase their understanding of water policy, advocacy, equity, organizing, and communications while expanding their networks. Learn more here.

New Report: Planning for Our Future: Effects of Climate Change on CSOs

The Jersey Water Works Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Committee recognizes that CSO permittees, communities, and stakeholders know that climate change can harm our sewer infrastructure but may struggle with how to plan for it. Major weather events like Hurricane Henri and Tropical Storm Ida have raised awareness that many parts of our current sewer infrastructure cannot handle increasingly severe storms. New Jersey’s CSO communities have recently completed CSO Long Term Control Plans (LTCPs) to meet environmental regulations, but the question remains: are these plans adequate to confront climate change impacts? This report looks at the need to look at climate change’s impact on planning for CSO communities. Read the report here.

CREWS in the News

This month we are featuring The Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment and its 2022 Anthony Grassroots Prize. Nominate a hero by March 22, 2022: The Rose Foundation is accepting nominations for “outstanding achievement in the field of grassroots environmental activism during the previous year.” The Sewage-Free Streets and Rivers campaign is funded by a generous grant from The Kresge Foundation to New Jersey Future. As part of an initiative that funds 24 grantees, the Climate Resilient and Equitable Water Systems (CREWS) initiative is a program working to transform stormwater and wastewater systems with climate-resilient water management practices that emphasize equity.

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About This Campaign

Sewage-Free Streets and Rivers is an action-oriented campaign that empowers community organizations to engage residents and small business owners to shape their communities’ solutions to reduce localized flooding and the raw sewage dumped into rivers and streams due to combined sewer overflows (CSOs). It is organized by its partners and an advisory board, with the support of New Jersey Future.

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