The State of New Jersey has approximately 1,100 lakes of which 345 are publicly owned. Many of these lakes are located in urban–suburban areas with high density residential and commercial land use activities on their watersheds. In 1975, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) initiated a lake management program, inventorying and conducting water chemistry sampling in over 450 of these lakes. Based on these observations, over 30 percent of these lakes were presumed eutrophic. Final determination of trophic status and the development of management plans, however, necessitated more extensive analysis. To accomplish this NJDEP secured a $100,000 Section 314 Lake Classification Grant on Nov. 17, 1979. Of the lakes inventoried, 25 were selected for intensive study. They represent a reasonable cross section of the types of lakes and lake problems in New Jersey. These 25 lakes were ranked on the basis of their trophic status as determined by land use, unit areal loading, methodology, and verified to the extent possible by intensive survey data. Point and nonpoint sources of nutrient loading were identified and quantified. Reduction in nutrient loadings required to improve their trophic status was estimated and management and restoration recommendations to accomplish nutrient reductions described. This evaluation indicated that, for the most part, nonpoint sources related to urban, suburban, and in some cases agricultural stormwater runoff were the major source of nutrient loads to these lakes. The identification of storm water as the major source of loadings to these lakes is timely since New Jersey has just finalized new storm water quality management regulations.