The Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer does not announce itself. It sits beneath the Pine Barrens, a buried ocean of fresh water that has no interest in human schedules or corporate expansion plans. But it is running out of time.
On June 3, the Pinelands Alliance will hold its fourth Science Forum in a renovated two-story barn on Pemberton Road, and the subject is water.
Not as metaphor. As fact. The aquifer supplies hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents. It creates the habitats that make the Pine Barrens unlike any other place on the Eastern Seaboard. And it is now facing threats that did not exist a generation ago: a changing climate, prolonged drought, and the sudden, immense water demands of data centers.
The forum runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Admission is $50, while students pay $20 with an ID. Register at https://pinelandsalliance.org/scienceforum2026/
David Robinson of Rutgers will deliver the keynote on New Jersey’s changing climate. Other speakers will address desmid algae, carbon sources in the Delaware Estuary, carnivorous plants as indicators of watershed health, and the use of moss-preserved microbes to measure moisture variability.
Charles Shutte of Rowan will present on whether forested wetlands in the Pine Barrens cool or warm the local climate. A tour of Rancocas Creek Farm follows the final discussion.
None of this is academic in the pejorative sense. The question underneath every presentation is straightforward: how much water remains, and who gets to take it?
Data centers, which did not exist in the Pinelands a decade ago, now operate or are proposed on sites that were recently forests or golf courses. They require millions of gallons daily for cooling. The aquifer does not distinguish between a server and a resident. It simply drops.
The Alliance is promoting this forum through its Pinelands Research Institute, which aims to put science at the foundation of conservation. That is the stated goal. The unstated one is more urgent: to assemble enough evidence before the water is gone.
A light breakfast and lunch are included. The barn is wheelchair accessible. Sponsors include Pine Island Cranberry Company, NJ American Water, Princeton Hydro, and a former U.S. ambassador.
They are paying for a conversation that should not be necessary. But necessary conversations usually arrive late, and this one is already later than anyone wants to admit.
Also coming to the Pinelands
Saturdays, 2026 – Albert Hall, bring the family each Saturday night for an evening of live country, bluegrass, and Pinelands music. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and music starts at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 07, 2026 – 37th Annual Pinelands Short Course at Stoclton University’s main campus in Galloway, NJ
Sunday, May 2026 – Batsto Spring Antique, Glass & Bottle Show
Friday, July 17, 2026 – 10th Annual Pinelands Summer Short Course at Stockton University’s Kramer Hall in Hammonton, NJ
September 2026 – Batsto Fall Antique, Glass & Bottel Show
September 2026 – 44nd Annual Old Time Barnegat Bay Decoy and Gunning Show
October 2026 – 32th Annual Pine Barrens Jamboree
Sunday, October 18, 2026 – Batsto Country Living Fair
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