Mon. U's Water Watch to clean up Lake Tak.
Volunteers asked to bring gloves, hard-soled shoes on Saturday
BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer

LONG BRANCH - Monmouth University's chapter of N.J. Community Water Watch is expecting over 50 university students and community members to join in the cleanup of Lake Takanassee this weekend.

Volunteers are planned to gather at Lake Takanassee from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday to participate in removing cans, bottles, plastics, tires and other garbage that pollutes the lake, according to Katie Feeney, the campus organizer for Water Watch.

"Lake Takanassee is one of many coastal waterways in New Jersey that is impaired by overdevelopment and nonpoint source pollution," Feeney said. "Most of our waterways, nearly 75 percent of those in our state, are deemed too polluted for fishing or swimming.

"By hosting this cleanup we hope to engage the local community, raise awareness about our state's poor water quality and meanwhile create active stewards of our waterways while highlighting Lake Takanassee as a place the community should be able to enjoy littler-free," Feeney said.

The cleanup will kick off with free refreshments and a few words to the volunteers about the importance of protecting community waterways, according to Feeney.

The volunteers are asked to bring sunscreen, garden or work gloves and to wear hard-soled shoes, Feeney said, adding that plastic gloves and garbage bags will be provided at the site of the cleanup.

"I hope to get a lot of the Long Branch community out doing service on Lake Takanassee," Feeney said.

Lake Takanassee is downstream of Whale Pond Brook, which flows through theMonmouth University campus inWest Long Branch," Feeney explained.

"At Monmouth University, Water Watch is working with the Urban Coast Institute to build a rain garden on campus to restore a section of Whale Pond Brook and protect it from the impacts of current development," Feeney said.

"By working upstream of Takanassee, we aren't solving the whole problem," she said, adding that the cleanup will help aid the effort.

New Jersey Community Water Watch is a statewide, grassroots organization based off college campuses. It is a project of AmeriCorps and New Jersey Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG).

"Our mission as an organization is to engage college students and the community in service and education projects, such as cleanups, K-12 education and stream monitoring, in an effort to protect New Jersey's most polluted waterways," Feeney said.

"All of these projects are run by students interns and volunteers," she added.

Statewide Water Watch hosts several cleanups every school year, according to Feeney.

For example, Feeney explained, for Earth Day 2007, 10 campuses engaged over 1,000 volunteers who joined Water Watch to improve the health of local waterways.

"At Monmouth, this semester we will host three cleanups, including an Earth Day cleanup at Poricy Pak in Middletown and Clean Ocean Action's biannual Beach Sweeps at Pier Village in Long Branch," Feeney said.

"We are also excited to work on cleanups with other local groups in Monmouth County," she added.

Since the inception of NJPIRG's Community Water Watch as an AmeriCorps program in 1994, the program has organized 303 waterway cleanups, according to Feeney.

"In total, [Water Watch] removed 797 tons, or almost 1.6 million pounds, of trash from waterways across the state," Feeney said.

"Cleanups are a lot of fun," she said, adding, "They are a great hands-on activity that really make a difference."

For more information on the Lake Takanassee Cleanup or on Water Watch, visit www.njwaterwatch.org or e-mail Katie Feeney at Monmouth@njwaterwatch. org.