By Michael Yun It’s August and just like clockwork, Mayor Steven Fulop is at it again with another head-scratching initiative.
This time his strange idea is to add walking trails around the 1,300-acre Jersey City reservoir, located in Morris County.
Mayor Fulop touted his plans on Twitter (his go-to method of governing) boasting, "It’s a great JC asset that will serve conservationists, school children + surrounding community," however, the opposite is much more likely and the Mayor would know this if he took the time to talk to actual Jersey City residents.
The environmental commission’s two points of concern were the environmental and human dangers that may lead to the contamination of the drinking water that, not only the people of Jersey City, but the people of Secaucus and Parsippany, a total of roughly 340,000 people rely on.
"The construction of access roads, parking areas, pathways, etc… would impact the already fragile and very limited protective vegetative cover.
The vegetative cover is an extremely important ecosystem service, as it reduces soil erosion, maintains soil moisture, and acts to filter potentially contaminated runoff that can flow into the reservoir."
When there is a large isolated body of water, people litter or will relieve themselves, not understanding how their actions will ultimately affect others.
The environmental commission’s concern is that "the risk of an intentional attack to compromise the water supply of the people of Jersey City, Secaucus, and Parsippany."
If this were to happen, the ramifications would be catastrophic, by risking the health of these citizens and costing taxpayers to fix it.
One solution for those who desire a walking trail is to utilize the currently underused Jersey City Reservoir #3 located in the Heights, a development that poses no risk to the drinking water of the people of Jersey City, Secaucus, and Parsippany, while also being located in the mayor’s own city for his constituents to enjoy.