Population growth and urban sprawl threaten gains made in regional air quality , put both the quality and quantity of drinking water at risk and are seriously depleting open space. The impact of sprawl on open space is a shared concern. Open space is more than woods to walk in or a pretty view. The rain that should be replenishing underground sources of drinking water is directed instead into storm sewers and carried away. And as population spreads out, so does the pollution it generates.
Polluted runoff contaminates rivers and streams that provide surface sources of drinking water.
The forest contains the headwaters for two reservoirs providing drinking water for two million North Jersey residents. Mention loss of habitat and biodiversity , and most people think of the destruction of the rainforest . But loss of habitat is by no means limited to the rainforest. Urban sprawl is overrunning our regional habitat, and a less obvious issue is the fragmentation of what remains. Preserving biodiversity starts at home.