Triassic Lowlands

Mendham Boro remains in Significant Non-Compliance with an effluent violation based on monthly average limit. The facility discharged more of a pollutant than its permit allows, indicating current exceedance of discharge limits under its Clean Water Act permit.

Native Brook Trout were recorded September 28 at Anomaly Road in Wharton. This cold-water species indicates streams with stable flows and dissolved oxygen adequate for salmonid habitat.

An Eastern Floater mussel was recorded September 30 at Loantaka Brook Reservation in Morristown. Freshwater mussels filter-feed on suspended matter and are sensitive indicators of stream habitat quality.

Poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata), a threatened species under state protection, was observed in Florham Park on October 2 and 6. This native woodland species grows in moist, partly shaded habitats and is listed as threatened in Pennsylvania and Michigan, indicating its rarity in eastern temperate forests.

Trees across the region including red maple, white oak, flowering dogwood, eastern redbud, and tuliptree are showing colored leaves and falling leaves as of October 19-21. Fall leaf progression is underway mid-season for the region; October temperatures in Morris County averaged 64.8°F, about 1.5°F above normal for the month.

Mendham Boro is in Significant Non-Compliance for an effluent violation, having discharged more of a pollutant than its permit allows based on a monthly average. This active violation indicates the facility is currently exceeding one or more discharge limits under its Clean Water Act permit.

Month-to-date precipitation through September 21 was 5.7 inches, 3 inches above the normal of 2.7 inches at Boonton station 13 km away. The surplus is likely suppressing short-term fire risk, though it reflects an unusually wet September relative to the long-term average.

Fowler's toad, a state-threatened amphibian, was recorded five times between August 27 and September 7 around Boonton, Kinnelon and Mine Hill. The species presence indicates adequate palustrine wetland conditions to support populations, with forested wetlands covering 32% of mapped area and maintained seasonal saturation.

Eastern box turtle, state-threatened, was observed September 15, 11, 9, and 1 within the area. The repeated observations in early fall suggest established presence in a landscape with abundant palustrine wetlands and 2,172 acres of forested and emergent wetland habitat.

Japanese knotweed was confirmed at Morristown National Historical Park on September 7. This invasive herbaceous perennial is established in numerous habitats across North America and Europe and poses risk to native plant communities.