One of the prime sources of drinking water for a key region of the state will be growing, thanks to a recent open space purchase.
The 85-acre parcel of old growth forest in Vineland will be added to the existing 600-acre Menantico Creek Preserve. It features 2.2 miles of the Menantico Creek and its tributaries – part of the federally-designated Maurice Wild and Scenic River system, according to a statement. It is one of the main tributaries of the Maurice River, which flows into the Delaware Bay.
Its old-growth forest provides habitat for bald eagles, barred owls and red-headed woodpeckers. In addition, its dense system of tree roots and undisturbed soil filters out pollutants, helping to recharge the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer, South Jersey’s main source of clean drinking water.
The purchase was organized by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, which assumed full ownership afterward. It was bought with state Green Acres open-space funding controlled by the Littoral Society, which provided half of the cost, with Cumberland County and the Open Space Institute’s Delaware River Watershed Protection Fund paying the remainder.