Trained Youth Corps Members Partner to Improve Water Quality

Members of the New Jersey Youth Corps Phillipsburg who were trained and certified in The Corps Network’s Waders in the Water aquatic restoration program wasted no time putting their new skills to work. The students partnered with:

• New Jersey Audubon Society,
• The William Penn Foundation,
• The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation,
• and the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority/Wallkill River Watershed Management Group

to restore habitat and improve water quality  – all on private property. The Waders in the Water (WitW) program is supported by the EcoBlu Analyst system, a cutting edge environmental big data efficiency tool that allows WitW grads, as well as other nonprofits using the system, to point and click their way through valuable ecosystem and restoration economy data sets. This restoration project is another example of the types of private-public partnerships available to WitW certified corps members who have taken the first step of exploring opportunities in the $10 billion per year restoration economy. These projects benefit the student as much as the environment. On this project alone, the groups worked together to plant over 10,000 native plants along streams on farms.  This new riparian vegetation will filter runoff, reduce erosion, and provide food and cover for ducks, and other water birds. Read more: CONSERVATION PARTNERS HELP IMPROVE YOUR WATER QUALITY IN NORTHERN NEW JERSEY