NJ Watershed Watch Network

A Community Water Monitoring Partnership between NJ Volunteers and the NJDEP

NJ Salt Watch Monitoring Program

Request your Test Strips for 2023-2024 Season
Chloride Test Procedure
Submit your Data to the Clean Water Hub
View Salt Watch Data

The NJ Salt Watch study is returning for the 2023-2024 winter season! Click above to request your chloride test strips to start monitoring your favorite New Jersey streams and lakes. This project engages community scientists to assess the impacts of winter road salting on New Jersey freshwater nontidal water bodies. 

Get Started

  • Request your test strips

    Submit an online request form to receive your free chloride test strips. The package will arrive by mail in a few weeks.

  • Pick a stream or lake site to monitor

    You will return to this site several times this winter, so make sure your site is safe and accessible. The waterbody should be freshwater and nontidal, but can be located in any part of New Jersey. We are interested in data from multiple types of land uses (i.e. urban, rural, agricultural).

  • Learn about your waterbody

    To be eligible for this project, your stream, river, lake, or pond should be freshwater and nontidal. Wondering if your waterbody meets this criteria? Most in New Jersey do, but if you live near the ocean or a tidal river, you should check to make sure. Click above to head to NJ GeoWeb map system, zoom in on your location, and see if the head of tide (the blue target) is downstream of your intended monitoring location. If so, you're good to go. Make sure you have permission to return to this spot several times this winter - public land is fair game!

  • Keep an eye on the weather forecast

    To find out if chloride levels spike after a road salting event, we are interested in data collected in both dry and wet weather. Take a "dry" measurement when there hasn't been rain, snow, or snowmelt within 48-72 hours. Take a measurement on a "wet" day, when rain, snow, or snowmelt washes road salt into the water.

  • Visit your site 3-5 times before the end of April

    Testing takes about 10 minutes tops, so some volunteers stop at multiple sites during each monitoring event. See below for test instructions.

  • Enter your data to the Clean Water Hub

    Click the link above to visit http://www.cleanwaterhub.org/saltwatch. Create an account on the Clean Water Hub to submit your chloride data to the national database. You will be prompted to affiliate yourself with an organization to submit data on their behalf. Select “New Jersey Watershed Watch Network”. You can list multiple organizations here if you are collecting data under another regional group as well. If you are already registered in the Hub, visit https://www.cleanwaterhub.org/organization/203 and click Join Organization to join the Watershed Watch Network.

Click here to view the Salt Watch instructions provided with your kit

Chloride Levels in New Jersey

NJ Salt Watch has switched data entry platforms from Survey123 to the Clean Water Hub, which consolidates NJ data with Salt Watch partners nationwide. Now you can view data back to 2019 and compare NJ conditions with the rest of the country.

View Salt Watch Data on the Clean Water Hub

How to Reduce your Salt Footprint

Our friends at the Lake George Association and Wisconsin Salt Wise have developed a great list of resources for you – and your local municipality and state Department of Transportation – to help reduce the amount of salt we use every winter.

Winter Road Best Practices for Businesses and Residents (Lake George Assn.)
Salt Application Guidelines (WI Salt Wise)

Learn more with recent NJ road salt webinars:

Road Salt in New Jersey Technical Friday Webinar (The Watershed Institute, Nov. 11, 2022)

Road Salt Virtual Roundtable (Musconetcong Watershed Association, Nov. 16, 2022)

Deicers and the Environment Webinar (Barnegat Bay Partnership, Feb. 22, 2023)

Sustainable Jersey: Winter Best Practices to Reduce Road Salt Impacts

In October 2023, Sustainable Jersey launched a new action for municipalities to improve winter road maintenance through workforce training, salt application tracking, equipment calibration, and implementation of other best practices. Participation in NJ Salt Watch earns municipalities 5 points toward completion of this action! Click here to learn more about Sustainable Jersey and winter best practices. 

Join Sustainable Jersey’s webinar on December 12 at noon to learn more about this new action to reduce the impacts of road salt. Click here to register for free.

Thank you to the Izaak Walton League of America Salt Watch Program for sharing their methods!

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