The Hudson-Raritan Estuary of New York and New Jersey is more than 42,000 square
kilometers, making it one of the largest estuaries on the East coast. With more than 20 million residents living nearby, it is also one of the most urbanized, and home to the Port of New York and New Jersey, a major hub of commerce vital to the regional economy. An estuary is defined as an area where fresh water from rivers mixes with the salt water of the sea. Fresh water is supplied to the Hudson- Raritan Estuary from its major tributaries: the Hudson, Hackensack, Passaic and Raritan Rivers, which drain major watersheds of New York and New Jersey. For almost 400 years, the estuary and its watershed have been transformed by industrialization and residential growth, resulting in adverse physical, chemical and biological impacts on both the waters of the estuary and its surrounding land.

In 1999, Congress directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct an estuary-wide environmental restoration study throughout the New York and New Jersey estuary. This study, known as the Hudson-Raritan Estuary Ecosystem Restoration Study, or simply the HRE Study, is co-sponsored by the Corps and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The goal of the study is to develop a long-term Comprehensive Restoration Plan — or CRP — of environmental improvements that would help restore the ecological value and richness of this nationally important resource. Click here to view the 2006 Corps-Port Authority brochure about the study and its benefits and goals, involvement and the importance to the region.

Hudson-Raritan Estuary Section 905b Analysis Reconnaisance Study