The watershed management area includes watersheds draining to the lower portions of the Delaware River. The principal rivers here are the Big Timber Creek, Raccoon Creek and Oldmans Creek. The area overlies Salem and Gloucester Counties and includes the following watersheds: Oldmans Creek, Raccoon Creek, Maple Swamp, Repaupo Creek, Mantua Creek, Woodbury Creek, Wooping Creek, and Big Timber Creek.

Oldmans Creek drains an area of 44 square miles and flows on the Coastal Plain to the Delaware River. This creek, 20 miles long, marks the boundary between Gloucester and Salem Counties. Tidal marshes exist at the mouth of this creek, while the western third of the creek is tidal. Major tributaries include Kettle Run and Beaver Creek. For the most part, this watershed is agricultural and forested, with some residential and industrial development.

Chemical/physical water quality is relatively good, with nutrients and bacterial levels slightly elevated. Conditions closely resemble those found during the 1986 - 1991 period of review. Point source effects in this watershed are thought to be limited to the tidal portions of Oldmans Creek. Nonpoint sources are reported to be the sole contributors to the water quality problems identified in Oldmans Creek.

Sources of agricultural runoff include crop production, pasture land, and animal holdings. Suburban sources of pollution include runoff from road and housing construction, urban surfaces, mining activities and leachate from septic systems. All these sources are believed by local officials to be responsible for a decline in water quality and some minor habitat destruction, and are suspected to be threatening the health of the instream fisheries.

The Raccoon Creek watershed contains approximately 40 square miles and drains central Gloucester County. The creek itself is 19 miles long and flows from Elk Township to the Delaware River, across from Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. Population centers of this rural area are Swedesboro and Mullica Hill. At the mouth of Raccoon Creek are tidal marshes, and much of the lower half of the Creek is tidal.

The land use in this watershed is primarily agricultural/rural, with industries located along the creek's tidal section. However, there has been recent suburban residential and commercial development in much of the watershed. Physical/chemical quality is fair to good, with nutrients and bacteria at moderately elevated levels.

Big Timber Creek drains an area of 63 square miles. The mainstem and most of the South Branch divide Gloucester and Camden Counties before flowing into the Delaware River near Brooklawn, south of Camden. Aside from the North and South Branches (which are 10 and 11 miles long, respectively), major tributaries include Otter Creek, Beaver Brook, and Almonesson Creek. The mainstem is less than four miles long. The major impoundments are Blackwood Lake, Grenloch Lake, Hirsch Pond, and NashÕs Lake. This watershed is primarily urban/suburban with forests at the headwaters and cities at the mouth of Big Timber Creek.

Water quality is fair to good, with nutrients mildly elevated and bacteria elevated. Lead may be a problem with regard to aquatic life support. Big Timber Creek is subject to a variety of potential pollution sources due to the large number of point sources within the watershed. An extensive regionalization has occurred in this watershed with the elimination of a significant number of treatment plants; hence, water quality is expected to improve with time.