Deal Lake, Monmouth County, NJ

Deal Lake Commission           Monmouth County, NJ

                                                                                                                                                            View the historic 1896 lake photo

Next Commission Meeting

Thurs, May 15, 2008 @ 7 pm

Loch Arbour Municipal Building

       April 17th Meeting Agenda

Deal Lake Regional Storm Water Management Plan (RSWMP) News

The DLC has received an October 2007 extension when a final draft is due to the NJ DEP. Updates on progress will be provided at our regular monthly meetings.

Here are a list of suggestions from our Environmental Consultant and an older list of p roposed projects that we are considering for inclusion into the Deal Lake RSWMP.

Great Stormwater Website Check out the State of Maryland's Department of the Environment website about Stormwater. It's one of the best educational sites we have seen.

Maps and Facts

A simple map helps understand the complexity of Deal Lake's Ecosystem.

Fishermen

Deal Lake's public boat ramp is located at the western end of 7th Avenue next to the railroad tracks. Just West of Main Street (Route 71). Here's a Google Map to the Boat Ramp. Many trophy size Large Mouth Bass have been caught. Read NJ's Best Kept Fishing Secret.

Bacterial Source Study Presentation

At our February 13th meeting, John Tiedemann of Monmouth University and Bill Sciarappa of Rutgers University presented the results of water testing at 10 locations within Deal Lake. The testing revealed high occurrence Fecal Coli from waterfowl, wild animals, farm animals (mostly likely transported via geese) and humans (most likely from breeched sanitary sewers). Pet waste is relatively low. More to come.

    Friends Of Deal Lake

Next Friends Meeting: Thursday, May 22, 2008, 7 pm at Interlaken Municipal Building

The Friends of Deal Lake is a grass roots advocacy group.

Check out their new website FriendsOfDealLake.com. If you would like be part of this active group then come to the next meeting.    The next Friend's Clean-up Day is on Saturday, April 13 from 10 am to 2 pm.   Visit website or contact FriendsOfDealLake@Yahoo.com.

Over 30 Volunteers Collect Piles of Trash

Thanks to Brian McCarthy and Deal Lake Commissioner John Zazzarino over 30 people showed up, many with water craft, to clean the shoreline of Deal Lake on Saturday September 22nd. Great Job !!!!! Pictures will be posted as soon as we have them.

Storm and Colder Weather Kill Weeds

Update: The weeds are less noticeable but still present in several sections of the lake. The problem will be the Commission's highest priority in the Spring and Summer of 2008.

Weeds Taking Over Sunset Section of Lake

Aquatic weeds are choking the western section of Deal Lake just West of the Sunset Avenue Bridge. The Deal Lake Commission has secured the only contractor in NJ, Aquatic Analysts, that has an Aquamog and Weed Harvester, to remove the weeds. View the company's video to see how the Aquamog works. However due to limited funds, the Commission must scale back and only harvest the weeds. We had hoped to complete this in Mid-October, but we were unable to secure all the equipment and manpower necessary to do the work in October. Weed Harvesting will now take place in late Spring or Early Summer of 2008. The Commission will also use a limited program of herbicides to keep the weeds in check during the growing season.

                            (click on pictures for larger view)

Weeds proliferate like this because of high levels of nutrients, especially phosphorous, and shallow water depth which allows the sun to trigger the growth.

Prisoners Help Clean Deal Lake in May

The Commission sponsored a week long clean-up at several debris hot-spots during the first week of May. Coordinated by Neptune's Deal Lake Commissioner, Jerry Meyer, several Monmouth County low-risk prisoners were a big help by improving Deal Lake's aesthetics. Read the Coaster story.

Deal Lake is a beautiful treasure savored by residents, vacationers, fishermen and boaters for over a century. Lenni Lenape Indians would fish and eat the bounty of clams and oysters. During Colonial times the British harvested seafood to be sent back to England. During the Revolutionary War, Patriots would execute small attacks on British ships retreating to Deal Lake for cover from the British Navy as they fired their cannons at them.

Called Lake Uliquecks by the Lenape Indians, an 1781 map shows Deal Lake was known as White's Pond. In the early 1800's it was known as Hogs Swamp Pond. On the 1851 Lightfoot map, it was called Corlies Pond or Great Pond while Sunset Lake was known as Little Pond.   An 1873 map calls it Boyleston Great Pond and shows it still is accessible to the ocean. With the engineering completed around 1890, Deal Lake was created as it is known today, closing off the inlet and creating several separate lakes and ponds. Deal Lake was a model system of the late nineteenth century for Flood Control and Storm Water Management. Over time, the lake lured many to build along its banks. Today, almost the entire shoreline has been developed with many homes built within the 100 year flood plain.

The Deal Lake Commission was created by the seven Monmouth County, NJ towns that surround Deal Lake. The Commission was chartered in 1974 by the Borough of Allenhurst, City of Asbury Park, Borough of Deal, Borough of Interlaken, Village of Loch Arbour, Neptune Township, and Ocean Township.

Today, the Commission oversees the vitality, on-going maintenance and restoration to preserve Deal Lake for future generations. Each town appoints one volunteer Commissioner to serve annually. Commissioners give of their time because of their love for this lake and for their desire to preserve this treasure for future generations.

These views are of Terrace Pond looking towards the Colonial Terrace Golf Course. This section of Deal Lake was entirely filled in and completely over grown with trees and vegetation. Dredging, completed in 2003, restored most of the lake to pre-1969 conditions.