phosphorus[dirty.local.issues]

Another effect of a low riparian buffering zone, river waters can become inundated with an influx of nutrients, which can be as disastrous as a lack of nutrients. The phosphorus runoff dilemma, from the Ontario example, is also present within Delaware River tributaries. Although phosphorus is a key element in plant-life, high concentrations can be environmentally harmful. Phosphorus runoffs can most usually be linked to agricultural waste.
Shown to the right are river boundaries that have been reported to exceed New Jersey's Surface Water Quality Standards (SWQS), by presence of fecal coliform and phosphorus. In this case, the primary contributors of the pollutants has been assigned to non-point sources, mainly storm-driven loads such as failing sewage systems and and 'improperly located septic systems.' From personal observations, judging by the close-up image, many of the contaminated regions border along steep river banks., perhaps the result of riverbank erosion, the precursor to a poor riparian nutrient-buffering zone.

Although the regions in this map are under remediation, the purpose of this data provided from the NJDEP is observe these and surrounding regions for future susceptibility to these runoff problems.