The South Branch Watershed Association protects and enhances the water resources of the South Branch of the Raritan River and its watershed by means of community participation, local leadership, and innovation, in order to improve the health of the human and natural environments.

Description:
The South Branch Watershed Association (SBWA) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to protecting the environment in the watershed of the South Branch of the Raritan River. Since 1959, SBWA has been assisting municipalities, schools, community groups, and citizens with protecting natural resources through education and outreach. Programs offered by SBWA include volunteer stream monitoring, an annual stream clean-up, forums on current local environmental issues, community well testing, and hands-on in-school, in-field, and computer-based environmental education. SBWA also serves as a clearinghouse for public information regarding local environmental issues.

History:
In 1959, a small group of people created the South Branch Watershed Association (SBWA), "to raise public awareness to the fact that a river is a treasure...not to be taken for granted." Hermia Lechner, the founder and president of SBWA for many years, knew at a very early time that conservation of natural resources was necessary and important. Hermia knew that the key to conservation lies in educating the public. Towards that end, Hermia operated a summer environmental education camp named Camp Echo Hill for many years. She realized the importance of this work back in the 1950s and environmental education is even more critical today.

Through the years, SBWA has worked on many programs and projects. In the 1960s, SBWA promoted the creation of the Hunterdon County Park Commission and the appointment of municipal environmental commissions. In the 1970s, SBWA produced natural resource inventories for every township within the watershed, produced model ordinances for the protection of major critical environmental areas, established a well testing program for citizens to test their well water and gain knowledge about groundwater protection. In the 1980s, SBWA produced hydrologic soil maps for Hunterdon County, initiated the creation of the Hunterdon Heritage Conservancy for historic, farmland, and open space preservation. In the 1990s, created a Volunteer River Monitoring Program to collect baseline macroinvertebrate data for the South Branch Raritan River and its tributaries, maintained a team of official rain gaugers to monitor and record year-round precipitation through a partnership with the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), established a natural resource inventory school educational program for 10 schools, and removed approximately 20 tons of garbage from the waterways through SBWA stream clean-ups.

SBWA headquarters are located in Echo Hill Environmental Education Area, in the house where Hermia lived and worked. We are constantly reminded of Hermia's work and of the importance of public education and outreach. We continue to work towards our mission "to protect the water resources of the South Branch Raritan River watershed."

Contact person: Nicole Rahman, Program Director, (phone), (email)

Address:

41 Lilac Drive Flemington, NJ 08822 (See a map)