Christie Signs Barnegat Bay Legislation

Good News for Barnegat Bay!

Governor Chris Christie was in Waretown today and signed three bills into law morning aimed at protecting the health of the bay and its inhabitants. The bills establish regulations for fertilizer usage, standards for restoring damage soil, and requirements for the state Department of Transportation pertaining to the maintenance and upkeep of storm-water drains and basins.

Barnegat Bay stretches approximately 30 miles, along the coast of Ocean County. It is essentially a long estuary formed by Barnegat Peninsula, a long barrier peninsula, as well as by the north end of Long Beach Island. The bay is fed by several small rivers, including the Toms River and Metedeconk River, which empty into the bay through small estuaries along its inner shore. The communities of Toms River Township, Berkeley Township, Lacey Township, Long Beach Island Township, among others sit along the estuaries on the bay.

The bay is entered from the ocean through the Barnegat Inlet, along which sits the Barnegat Lighthouse. The bay is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, entered on its north end by the Point Pleasant Canal and connecting on the south end with Little Egg Harbor via the small Manahawkin Bay. In a broader sense, the bay is sometimes considered to stretch to the south end of Long Beach Island and to include Little Egg Harbor.

 The area surrounding the Barnegat Bay and Barnegat Inlet were described by Henry Hudson, in 1609, as "...a great lake of water, as we could judge it to be ... The mouth of the lake hath many shoals, and the sea breaketh on them as it is cast out of the mouth of it." The bay was originally named in 1614 "Barendegat," or "Inlet of the Breakers," by Dutch settlers, referring to the waterway's turbulent channel. During the American Revolutionary War, the bay was used as refuge by American privateers.

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Karl Hess, Ocean Township, Ocean County Real Estate Agent