Last updated/Reviewed on June 18, 2025
Overview
After the Pinelands Commission strengthened water withdrawal rules in late 2023 to protect the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer (read more here), Clayton Sand Company filed an appeal in early 2024, contending overreach and defective rulemaking. Winslow Township aligned with the challenge as amicus in late 2024. PPA has aligned itself with the Pinelands Commission as amicus to defend the rules. As of mid‑2025, the litigation remains pending in the Appellate Division, with briefs filed and public mobilization ongoing.
Current Status
Legal Case: As of the end of May, we are awaiting the Appellate Division’s decision as to whether oral argument is necessary or if they will decide the matter solely on the briefs.
What You Can Do
Please sign the petition to stop them from wasteful overuse of the water we all depend on!
Show up to county and municipal meetings to put pressure on Winslow Township leaders to drop the lawsuit and rein in irresponsible development plans. Petition-signers will be kept up-to-date on important dates as they approach!
Background Information
The Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer is one of the essential life resources in South Jersey. It contains some of the purest water on the United States’ east coast and feeds the country’s cleanest rivers, including the Great Egg Harbor National Wild and Scenic River and the Mullica River. This aquifer is what allows our homes, farms, and businesses to thrive. Without a local source of water from the aquifer, residents will struggle to find clean and affordable water for their households, farmers will lose crops, and local businesses will face hardship.
In Winslow Township, the aquifer is especially at risk, reaching now 138% beyond its capacity to replenish itself according to recent analysis. The Pinelands Commission, which works to protect the aquifer from overuse, has a rule that developments and corporations seeking to pump more than 50,000 gallons per day must apply to the Commission to ensure that the proposed use does not harm the aquifer and the other residents, businesses, and farms that depend on it.
Despite the urgent need for the protection of this resource in a time of global warming and drought, the Mayor and some Town Council Members in Winslow Township are attempting to overturn the protections of the aquifer through the joining of a lawsuit against the Pinelands Commission. They seem bent on letting the aquifer become depleted from wasteful overuse by golf courses, landscape irrigation for large developments, and warehouses.
From the May 2025 Monthly Management Report of the Pinelands Commission:
“In Re Challenge of Clayton Sand Company to December 4, 2023 Amendments to N.J.A.C. 7:50-1.1 et seq., A-001476-23 – Clayton Sand Company filed a Notice of Appeal of the amendments to the Water Management Rules at N.J.A.C. 7:50-6.86(d)2 of the Pinelands CMP (i.e. the Kirkwood-Cohansey rules). The appeal challenges the rule adoption as procedurally and substantively defective. Briefing of this appeal concluded on February 14, 2025 with the filing of Clayton’s reply to the Pinelands Preservation Alliance’s brief. As of the end of May, we are awaiting the Appellate Division’s decision as to whether oral argument is necessary or if they will decide the matter solely on the briefs.”
Timeline
Oct 2022: The Pinelands Commission proposed amendments to the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP), lowering the threshold for regulated groundwater withdrawals from 100,000 to 50,000 gallons/day, establishing stricter controls and basins management to better protect the Kirkwood‑Cohansey Aquifer.
December 4, 2023: The amended rules — N.J.A.C. 7:50‑6.86(d)2 and related provisions — were officially adopted by the Commission
February 26, 2024: Clayton Sand Company filed a Notice of Appeal (A‑001476‑23) challenging the CMP amendments as procedurally and substantively flawed.
July 31, 2024: Clayton Sand Company’s appellate brief was submitted to the New Jersey Appellate Division.
September 16, 2024: Winslow Township filed a motion to intervene or appear as amicus curiae in support of Clayton’s appeal.
November 12, 2024: Winslow Township formally filed its amicus brief and appendix.
November 26, 2024: The Pinelands Commission submitted its merits brief (over‑length motion granted).
January 14, 2025: The public hearing that PPA and partners requested from NJDEP in order to express our concerns over a water allocation permit application submitted by Pinelands Golf Course in Winslow Township was officially “postponed” the day before the scheduled hearing.
June 2025: As of the 6/13/2025 Pinelands Commission meeting, we are still waiting to hear whether oral argument is necessary or if they will decide the matter solely on the briefs.