Photo courtesy of Michael Hogan
Watershed Facts - 5 total stream miles |
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Overview
Woodbury Creek watershed is densely populated. Over 60% is developed and characterized by commercial, urban and suburban development. Despite this suburban flavor, much of the land along Woodbury Creek's main stem is publicly owned and used for parks, lakes, active recreation and conservation areas. The Woodbury Creek watershed drains land in the municipalities of Deptford, West Deptford, National Park, all of Woodbury Heights and the city of Woodbury. The principle dam, the Broad Street Dam and spillway, south of Broad Street on the main stem of Woodbury Creek serves two purposes: it impounds the upstream waters that form the four lakes in the city park system and it also keeps tidal waters from entering the lakes.
History
The natural features of Woodbury Creek - small drainage area, low elevations, shallow depth and tidal flow - kept much of the creek as tidal marshes. The native Americans, the Lenni-lenape, fished and hunted the Delaware River and Woodbury Creek marshes. The Lenape and early European settlers needed navigable waterways for travel, trading, hunting, and fishing. Woodbury Creek watershed is too small and could not meet those needs. It wasn't until land routes and roads were developed by the Colonists that Woodbury became an important stop for travelers and commerce on Kings Highway. Woodbury then became an important center for these activities in early colonial times.
During the Revolutionary War. Woodbury was occupied by British troops. General Cornwallis' temporary headquarters building is located on the east side of Broad Street, just south of Hunter Street. It is on the National Register of Historic Buildings. The Gloucester County Historical Society Museum and Library is located behind the headquarters with an entrance on Hunter Street.
Also on the historic register is the Red Bank Battlefield National Park located in the town of National Park on the Delaware River at the mouth of Woodbury Creek. This 26-acre park contains the Ann Whiteall Museum House and the remains of Fort Mercer, the site of the largest Revolutionary battle in South Jersey.
Woodbury developed as the center of the county government and court system and also became the industrial, commercial road and rail transportation hub. National Park and Woodbury Heights developed as residential communities. The areas of Deptford and West Deptford within the Woodbury Creek watershed were predominately in agricultural use. In the 1950's, 60's and 70's, these agricultural lands changed to residential, commercial and industrial uses.
Threats to the Creek
Development has dramatically changed the ecology of the Woodbury Creek watershed. There is very little elevation and therefore very low water flows in the creek. The elevation of the lakes in the City of Woodbury's park system is only 5.8' above sea level, which is also the approximate height of maximum high tide on Woodbury Creek. The elevation of the watershed's land area is fairly flat, as is the bank of the Delaware River where Woodbury Creek empties into it. Much of the Woodbury Creek area was originally upland wetlands (Woodbury, Woodbury Heights, portions of Deptford, West Deptford). Tidal marshes dominated the Woodbury Creek junction of the Delaware River in National Park and West Deptford and extended along the creek in the City of Woodbury almost to Cooper Street near the Deptford Township line.
Man-made changes not only modified Woodbury Creek but radically altered the ecology of the entire watershed. Changes were made to the channel and flows of Woodbury Creek by filling the upland wetlands, by damming and dredging to create lakes and by filling tidal marshes. The impact of development on surface and ground water is little understood by the general public. Our supply of water for Gloucester County comes from underground aquifers. This ground water must be recharged from rainfall.
Natural ground recharge areas have been dramatically reduced by impervious cover, roads, buildings, and by filling in and covering up open land, wetlands and tidal marshlands. Rainfall is not getting through to replenish underground aquifers. The present demands for water are putting great stress on our ground water aquifers.The quantity of water to meet projected needs is being addressed by a regional water supply system that is presently being constructed. Surface water from the Delaware River north of Delran will augment our ground water supply.
Impacts and causes of pollution of surface and ground water is more readily understood by the general public than water supply issues. Great strides have been made in the past two decades on cleaning our water. The major sources of pollution were once "point sources" such as pollutants coming out of a pipe from a known source. Upgrading sewage treatment plants and pretreating industrial waste water before discharge have reduced most point sources and greatly improved surface water quality.
Remaining sources of pollution that are difficult to identify and treat are those labeled "non-point source" pollutants. Airborne pollutants are taken out of the air in raindrops. This rain washes our cars, homes, yards, and streets and runs through storm water drains to our streams and lakes. Hydrocarbons, fertilizers, pesticides and other pollutants are also washed into waterways through runoff. These are "people Problems" that require committed people to solve them.