Mapping the Wetlands at 125 Red Hill Road via the NJ DEP

125 Red Hill Rd Wetlands Map

A "GIS," or Geographical Information System, is a specialized computer database set up to analyze maps and routes data. These used to be rather esoteric systems but, thanks to the era of smartphone navigation, they are now very commonplace. In fact, the NJ DEP hosts a free online system where you can create your own maps from the data that the DEP and the NJ Geological Survey have compiled.

In prior posts I have referred to our inference that there are wetlands at 125 Red Hill Road based on "on the ground" observations. Sadly, in the world of official rulings, that is not nearly as strong evidence as the data contained within the GIS hosted by the NJ DEP. That is the definitive data set.

The DEP's web site is called GeoWeb, and is accessible via this link https://www.nj.gov/dep/gis/geowebsplash.htm. You can use this system to locate a specific location within the "basemap," and then add different data "layers." The map I've made is the 2012 version of the NJ Wetlands database (the prior, 2007, version is also available). I encourage everybody to use this system to make their own maps, which clearly show wetlands on the 125 Red Hill Road property. These wetlands are one of the sources for the Swimming River Reservoir.