About the SBWA Our Mission
SBWA History
SBWA Staff
Board of Trustees
Advisory Board
Technical Advisory Committee
Support

See also: SBWA Brochure [PDF format]

Our Mission

The South Branch Watershed Association protects and enhances the water resources of the South Branch of the Raritan River and its watershed by means of community participation, local leadership, and innovation, in order to improve the health of the human and natural environments.

The South Branch Watershed Association (SBWA) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to protecting the environment in the watershed of the South Branch Raritan River. Since 1959, SBWA has been assisting municipalities, schools, community groups, and citizens with protecting natural resources through education and outreach. Programs offered by SBWA include a volunteer stream monitoring program, biannual stream clean-ups, informational workshops, community well testing programs, and in-school in-field environmental education programs. SBWA also serves as a clearinghouse for public information regarding local environmental issues.

See also:

Strategic Plan Executive Summary [PDF format]

SBWA Amended and Restated By-Laws [PDF format]

SBWA History

In 1959, a small group of people created the South Branch Watershed Association (SBWA), "to raise public awareness to the fact that a river is a treasure...not to be taken for granted." Hermia Lechner, the founder and president of SBWA for many years, knew at a very early time that conservation of natural resources was necessary and important. Hermia knew that the key to conservation lies in educating the public. Towards that end, Hermia operated a summer environmental education camp named Camp Echo Hill for many years. She realized the importance of this work back in the 1950s and environmental education is even more critical today.

Through the years, SBWA has worked on many programs and projects. In the 1960s, SBWA promoted the creation of the Hunterdon County Park Commission and the appointment of municipal environmental commissions. In the 1970s, SBWA produced natural resource inventories for every township within the watershed, produced model ordinances for the protection of major critical environmental areas, established a well testing program for citizens to test their well water and gain knowledge about groundwater protection. In the 1980s, SBWA produced hydrologic soil maps for Hunterdon County, initiated the creation of the Hunterdon Heritage Conservancy for historic, farmland, and open space preservation. In the 1990s, created a Volunteer River Monitoring Program to collect baseline macroinvertebrate data for the South Branch Raritan River and its tributaries, maintained a team of official rain gaugers to monitor and record year-round precipitation through a partnership with the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), established a natural resource inventory school educational program for 10 schools, and removed approximately 20 tons of garbage from the waterways through SBWA stream clean-ups.

SBWA headquarters are located in Echo Hill Environmental Education Area, in the house where Hermia lived and worked. We are constantly reminded of Hermia's work and of the importance of public education and outreach. We continue to work towards our mission "to protect the water resources of the South Branch Raritan River watershed."

SBWA Staff

	Bill Kibler		Executive Director	billkibler@sbwa.org (908) 782-0422, Ext. 11
	Dee Ely		Office Manager and Well Test Program Manager	info@sbwa.org (908) 782-0422, Ext. 10
	Nicole Rahman		Program Director, Education & Outreach	nicolerahman@sbwa.org (908) 782-0422, Ext. 14
	Lynn Snow Becker		Director of Development and Member Relations	lynnbecker@sbwa.org (908) 782-0422, Ext. 13
	Connie Deetz		Finance Director	conniedeetz@sbwa.org (908) 782-0422, Ext. 12
	Calvin Lin		Americorps Watershed Ambassador	calvinlin@sbwa.org (908) 782-0422, Ext. 18
	Antoinette Boccuzzi		Environmental Educator
	Henry Cattle		Environmental Educator
	Lynn Henderson		Environmental Educator
	Debbie Newcomb		Environmental Educator
	Alan Rennie		Environmental Educator
	Peggy Romeo		Environmental Educator
	Inga Wismer		Environmental Educator

For staff member biographies, see Meet the SBWA Staff.

Board of Trustees

SBWA is overseen by a Board of Trustees. The President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary serve as officers of the Board of Trustees. Board members are appointed every year for a three-year term and Officers are appointed every year. A minimum requirement of five trustees and a maximum of thirty trustees are nominated to form the Board of Trustees.

Current members are:

	Officers:	Fred Puelle, President Skip Jonas, Vice President Christopher Trofimov, Treasurer Nick Romanenko, Secretary
	Trustees:	David Clapp Randy Block Karen Elbert James Hill Kenneth Jagel Kay Serebrakian John Williamson

Advisory Board

Current members are:

John Madden Pat Stover

Technical Advisory Committee

Current members are:

Jim Hill, engineer Amy Greene, environmental scientist Chris Testa, soils scientist Penny Altoff, geologist

Support

SBWA is a membership organization that depends on local community support. SBWA has over 1,500 members including individuals as well as families. SBWA is also supported by many of the area's businesses and industries. These community members realize that good environmental sense makes good economic sense.