Maurice River
Template:Use American English Template:Infobox river
The Maurice River (Template:IPAc-en<ref name=Pronunciation>Berkery, Sheri. "Do you know how to pronounce these S.J. town names?", Courier-Post, September 5, 2019. Accessed January 26, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Maurice River/Maurice River Township: MAW-ris, instead of More-eece. So basically, pronounce it like a mans name, but not the one it looks like."</ref>) is a tributary of Delaware Bay in Salem County and Cumberland County, New Jersey in the United States. The river was named for Maurice, Prince of Orange.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Watershed and courseEdit
The Maurice River, pronounced "MAW-ris",<ref name=Pronunciation/> is approximately Template:Convert long with a drainage area of 386 square miles (1,000 km2).<ref name=NJDEP>New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection, Trenton, NJ. (2012). "Watershed Management Area 17: Maurice, Salem, Cohansey."</ref> It is the second longest and second largest tributary to Delaware Bay.Template:Citation needed Its watershed includes an extensive southern portion of the coastal forested wetlands known as the Pine Barrens. Its mouth on Delaware Bay is surrounded by extensive salt marshes and has provided a historically important oystering ground.
It is born at the confluence of Still Run and Scotland Run, beneath the waters of Willow Grove Lake in Pittsgrove, Salem County and flows generally south-southeast, passing Template:Convert west of Vineland. At Millville it is impounded to form the Union Lake reservoir, approximately Template:Convert long. South of Millville it becomes navigable, forming a Template:Convert estuary that empties into Maurice River Cove on Delaware Bay. The estuary is joined from the northeast by Menantico Creek, the Manumuskin River, and Muskee Creek.
Water quality and stewardshipEdit
The river is considered especially pristine for the region, forming a critical ecological link between the Pine Barrens and the Delaware Bay systems, except that the State of New Jersey advises against eating more than Template:Convert of fish caught in the river in any week or month, depending on the species, for the general population and advises against eating any fish from the Maurice River for the High Risk population.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is the location of one of the few stands of wild rice in New Jersey, and provides habitat for 53 percent of the species in New Jersey designated as endangered. In 1993, Congress designated Template:Convert of the river and its tributaries as the Maurice National Scenic and Recreational River, as part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers program.
A local nonprofit organization, Citizens United to Protect the Maurice River and Its Tributaries, Inc., is a regional watershed organization that focuses its work on the Maurice River watershed, from Willow Grove Lake southward. The South Jersey Land and Water Trust focuses on the northern portion of the watershed, from Willow Grove Lake northward.
TributariesEdit
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Wild and Scenic Maurice River
- National Park Service: Maurice Wild and Scenic River
- U.S. Geological Survey: NJ stream gaging stations
- Template:GNIS
Template:Protected areas of New JerseyTemplate:Authority control