Take our Online Eco Tour of the Hackensack River Watershed!                                      Click Here!  Where is the Upper Hackensack River Watershed? The Upper Watershed is comprised mostly of the region north of the (Oradell, NJ) dam that forms the Oradell Reservoir.  Towns to the south of the dam that contain a stream draining into the Oradell are also considered part of the Upper Watershed.  Approximately 113 Miles square, this sub-watershed encompasses much of Northern Bergen County and parts of Rockland County, NY.  If you live in any of the towns or cities within this drainage area, you live in our watershed. Bergen SWAN concentrates its educational and preservation efforts on the forested areas bordering the Hackensack River, its reservoirs, and feeder streams in the County's Northern and Pascack Valleys.  Unlike the southern, industrialized Hackensack, this section of the river is marked by unspoiled, mature forests containing towering canopies of evergreens, huge 20" round cottonwood trees, 100 year old beeches, and woodland swamps. Like the lower portion of the river, the Upper Watershed supports high quality wetlands and crucial wildlife habitat.  The forested buffers which surround and protect our waterways fulfill a vital ecological function for human residents as well.  Whereas many highly urbanized areas of the country obtain their water supply from a protected watershed outside of the developed region, Bergen County's one million inhabitants live and work within the watershed on which they depend for their water supply. Towns in the Upper Watershed... Bergen County  Closter Cresskill Demarest Dumont Emerson Harrington Park Haworth Hillsdale Montvale New Milford Northvale Norwood Old Tappan Oradell Park Ridge River Edge River Vale Rockleigh Tenafly Washington Township Westwood Woodcliff Lake Rockland County Congers New City Orangeburg Tappan West Nyack