A Year in Review: Top 10 Successes of 2023

As the year draws to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the milestones and successes that have shaped the past twelve months. We’re excited to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to our incredible clients, partners, and friends. Your support and collaboration have been the driving force behind our achievements. Join us as we revisit and celebrate our top 10 successes of 2023:

1. CELEBRATED 25 YEARS OF SUCCESS.

As we joyfully celebrate our 25th anniversary year at Princeton Hydro, we are filled with gratitude for the incredible journey. Over the past quarter-century, our firm has been dedicated to improving our ecosystems, quality of life, and communities for the better, and it’s an honor to reflect on the milestones we’ve achieved together. Since our inception in 1998, working with 2,000 clients, we have removed 84 dams, restored dozens of miles of rivers, improved water quality in hundreds of ponds and lakes, and enhanced thousands of acres of wetlands in the Northeast. Thank you for being an integral part of our journey!

2. DESIGNED AND OVERSAW THE REMOVAL OF 5 DAMS.

Over the past year, we completed five dam removal projects. We worked with Wildlands Conservancy to remove two dams from Bushkill Creek, a tributary to the Delaware River, opening up several miles of river to migratory fish and critical species. We partnered with the Musconetcong Watershed Association to remove Beatty’s Mill Dam, a critical step in restoring the Musconetcong River and addressing long-standing concerns regarding flood mitigation and the preservation of essential habitats. On Pohatcong Creek, we decommissioned a defunct dam for the Pinelands Regional Board of Education. And, working with The Nature Conservancy, we kicked off the removal of the 128-year-old hazardous Paulina Dam, reconnecting over 7.6 miles of mainstream and tributary habitat along the Paulins Kill. Highlighting our dedication and expertise in this field, our firm’s president and founding principal, Geoffrey M. Goll, P.E., was recently featured on a Top 20 podcast. His discussion provides insights into the complexities and significance of dam removal.

3. EARNED 6 PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS.

This year, we are proud to share that our firm earned the Society for American Military Engineers NJ Post’s 2023 Small Business Award! Our newly restored Trenton office earned two top tier awards: 2023 New Good Neighbor Award and NJ Historic Preservation Award. Two of our projects were spotlighted too: Lake Hopatcong Foundation’s Floating Classroom received the very honorable New Jersey Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award and the Readington Digital ERI won an ANJEC 2023 Environmental Achievement Award. And, a big shout out to Duncan Simpson who earned the SAME Mid-Maryland Post President’s Commendation Award.

4. BROKE GROUND ON LIBERTY STATE PARK ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION PROJECT.

Liberty State Park, located on the west bank of Upper New York Bay, is one of the most visited state parks in the nation. Within 235 acres of this highly urbanized setting, Princeton Hydro was contracted to design a resilient coastal ecosystem that provides both ecological and social benefits. In a momentous event, the Commissioner of NJDEP, Commander of USACE New York District, and local elected officials broke ground for the Liberty State Park Ecosystem Restoration Project. When constructed, it will have 80 acres of tidal and non-tidal wetlands and several hundred feet of intertidal shoreline and shallow water habitat, making it the largest ecosystem restoration project in New Jersey.

5. CELEBRATED NUMEROUS STAFF ACHIEVEMENTS.

Our team members continue to amaze us with their drive to expand knowledge and grow personally. This past year, several staff earned new licenses and certifications: Marissa Ciocco earned her Professional Engineer license in Delaware. Eric Zawatski achieved The Wildlife Society’s “Associate Wildlife Biologist” certification. Michael Allers became a licensed FAA-Certified Commercial Drone Pilot. Mark Gallagher was appointed to two boards: the Outdoor Equity Alliance Advisory Committee and Friends of Abbots Marshland Advisory Board. Dana Patterson was voted in as First Vice President of NJ SAME Post and Duncan Simpson, PWS was voted in as Second Vice President of the Mid-Maryland SAME Post.

6. SECURED $2.43 MILLION IN GRANTS FOR OUR CLIENTS.

One of Princeton Hydro’s core offerings is grant writing for our nonprofit and government clients. This year alone, we assisted in securing $2.43 million in grant funding from a variety of programs, including the NJDEP Stormwater Assistance Grants, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, NJDEP Natural Climate Solutions Grant, Restore America’s Estuaries National Estuaries Program Watersheds Grant Program, and New Jersey Highlands Council Planning Grant Program. The pivotal projects include building green infrastructure, developing watershed management programs, controlling invasive species, and planting hundreds of trees.

7. PARTICIPATED IN 50+ CONFERENCES, WORKSHOPS, OR LECTURES AND SPONSORED 35+ EVENTS.

We traveled around the Northeast and beyond to share our project stories and lessons learned. For the Watershed Institute’s 6th Annual Conference, we led two presentations focused on stormwater management, improving water quality, and reducing flooding. Our Senior Technical Director of Engineering Dr. Clay Emerson, PE, CFM, led two webinars for the Watershed Institute this year. The first one, “Enhanced Stormwater Management Ordinances,” provided guidance on NJDEP’s new stormwater ordinances and recommendations for developing and implementing stronger ordinances. The second webinar, “Stormwater Design: Myths and Misconceptions,” provided guidance on incorporating best practices and submitting design proposals that address New Jersey’s stormwater management goals. For the Resource Institute’s 2023 National Stream Restoration Conference, Jake Dittes, PE and Duncan Simpson, PWS presented on Hudson Valley Dam removal and showcased the importance of projects like the Maiden Lane Dam removal in preserving our natural treasures. We led five presentations during this year’s North American Lake Management Society International Symposium. The topics included harmful algal bloom mitigation, stormwater management for lake communities, and monitoring. We are honored to have sponsored over $26,000 to nonprofit events and fundraisers, and the Marketing Team is proud to have exhibited at 15 conferences, festivals, and local events.

8. WELCOMED 9 NEW TEAM MEMBERS.

This year, we welcomed Controller Barry Shallenberger to our Business Administration team. Four engineers joined: Sean Walsh, PE as a Senior Project Manager; Rebecca Adamo, PE and Lexie Seifert as Water Resource Engineers; and Ryan Eno, EIT as a Staff Engineer. We grew our Landscape Architecture team with the addition of Angelica Diaz, and bolstered our Ecological Engineering group with Restoration Ecologist Michael Allers. We also welcomed two interns this summer, Mikhail Velez (Communications) and Jackson Tilves (Aquatics), who have now joined our staff permanently. And, last but certainly not least, we promoted six of our four-legged team members to Chief Happiness Officers!

9. RELEASED 3 NEW RESOURCES FOR THE PUBLIC.

Working with New Jersey Future, we published the NJ Stormwater Retrofit Best Management Practices Guide, a comprehensive resource and pivotal tool that aids local and county governments, nonprofits, developers, and property owners in retrofitting stormwater infrastructure and integrating sustainable green infrastructure solutions. We partnered with New York – New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program and the Hudson River Foundation to create a toolkit for addressing problematic road-stream crossings. The easy-to-use matrix helps to prioritize potential projects and identify solutions. In partnership with Readington Township in New Jersey,  we developed New Jersey’s first interactive Environmental Resource Inventory (ERI) in digital format, paving the way for a more modernized, easily accessible, and highly functional resource. Readington Township was chosen as the recipient of the ANJEC “2023 Environmental Achievement Award” in the Environmental Commission category for creating the ERI. We’ve conducted two insightful ‘Facebook Live Chat’ Q&A sessions featuring four of our experts, which we recorded as informative resources available for ongoing access. The first session shared valuable spring gardening tips from our Landscape Architects. The second event, ‘Birding in Your Backyard,’ was hosted by two of our scientists who are passionate about birding.

10. GIVING BACK TO THE CITY OF TRENTON.

Since opening our Trenton Headquarters office, we have donated the use of our space for a variety of nonprofit organization events. In 2023, we hosted Revolutionary Trenton’s Launch Event, Boys and Girls club of Mercer County, Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey, Outdoor Equity Alliance Board Meeting, and African American Cultural Collaborative of Mercer County’s African American History Bowl Scholarship Presentation. We held donation drives here too to support local nonprofit organizations working in Trenton. During our Spring 2023 Staff Donation Drive, we collected 208 pounds of shelf-stable food items for Arm In Arm, a Trenton-based nonprofit organization that addresses food and housing insecurity in the city and surrounding areas. For our Holiday Employee Virtual Giving Event, 19 staff donated 72 items valued over $1560 to Children’s Home Society of New Jersey. Inspiring local youth to pursue a pathway in the STEM fields is also a priority for our firm. This year, we volunteered our time to support community programs like NJDEP’s Youth Inclusion Initiative and Hold High the Torch’s Eco Innovators for Youth STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics) Leaders Program.

Gratitude fills us, knowing these milestones were made possible by your support. Cheers to YOU and the promise of many more successes ahead!

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