Gov. Chris Christie announced Wednesday that the state will provide $20 million to hope the ongoing recovery at the Barnegat Bay.

Officials say that money and hard work have helped produce good results for the cleanup. Mitigation efforts include reducing run-off in the northern sections of the bay, where nutrients in stormwater cause algae blooms and limit oxygen.

The Department of Environmental Protection began monitoring the bay in 2010 and discovered that the northern-third portion of the bay was especially vulnerable.

Gov. Christie spoke about the recovery efforts at Cattus Island Park in Toms River.

“I think we are in a holding pattern right now in other parts of the bay and slow improvements in the northern part of the bay,” he said. “That’s why this next step is necessary to try and accelerate that improvement pattern in the northern part of the bay.”

The project began in 2010 and has so far helped preserve more than 11,000 acres of land surrounding the bay.

Cleanup is expected to last until 2020.