ABOUT
THE REGION
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The Raritan River and Bay Communities are located in Middlesex County, at the mouth of the Raritan River. These communities include Carteret, Old Bridge, Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Sayreville, South River, and Woodbridge, with a combined population of over 300,000. The region has large areas of residential development, as well as active industrial corridors, greenways, and mid-sized parks.
The Raritan River and Bay Communities have been experiencing flooding for decades, but recent major floods and chronic flooding issues have sparked more interest in working to increase resilience. In 2012, the municipalities in the region experienced severe flooding during and after Hurricane Sandy. The hurricane caused power outages, damaged businesses and homes, and forced the evacuation of thousands of people. Since then, the region has experienced flooding from other storms, including Nor’easters and Hurricanes Irene and Isaias. Many neighborhoods in the region also experience flooding due to heavy rainfall events when the stormwater system is overwhelmed.
There have been numerous resilience-related planning efforts in the region since Hurricane Sandy, including the Blue Acres program. However, many residents are still at risk. The Resilient NJ Raritan River and Bay Communities program will develop solutions to increase resilience and help protect the residents of each municipality. Those solutions may include zoning changes, physical projects, education initiatives, and more.
Learn more by downloading the About Our Region report. Following a community-driven process, we released the Resilience Action Plan in Fall of 2022. It provides a roadmap for addressing climate risks. You can join us in implementing the Action Plan to create changes for a better, more resilient future by spreading the word and getting involved in projects in your community. The region team is currently working to implement the recommendations included in the action plan.
What Places Matter to You?
Tell us something you love in your region, something you want to add, or something you want to change using the map below.
Get Involved
Your input and involvement are critical to increasing the resilience of our communities. Opportunities to engage with the program will be updated periodically on the Get Involved page.
GET RESILIENT NJ PROJECT UPDATES!
You can easily stay in the loop with program progress by signing up for periodic email updates via this form.
EXPLORE OUR RESOURCE LIBRARY
The Resource Library contains our project reports, engagement materials, and other information about progress.
The Region Team
The work of the Resilient NJ Raritan River and Bay Communities project is overseen by a Regional Team comprising the Middlesex County Office of Planning, and the municipalities of Carteret, Old Bridge, Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Sayreville, South River, and Woodbridge. Below are the members for each Region Team entity:
- NJ DEP – Knutsen, Montana
- Middlesex County Office of Planning – Brady Smith, Nick Tufaro, Laurie Sobel, John Ferguson, Linda Weber
- Carteret – Frank Bellino
- Old Bridge – Veena Sawant, Damian Gil
- Perth Amboy – Tashi Vazquez, Larry Cattano, Joel Rosa
- South Amboy – David Kales
- Sayreville – Kirk Miick
- South River – Art Londensky
- Woodbridge – Michael Gelin, Marta Darden, Thomas Flynn
- Raritan Bay Area YMCA – Steve Jobin, Brenda Crespo
