hudson river watershed management and issues: …...nys department of environmental conservation...

NYS Department of Environmental Conservation October 7, 2013

Hudson River Watershed

Management and Issues:

A Watershed Dinner Story

Westchester Water Works Conference

NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

Outline

• Quick Estuary Program Overview

• Watershed Observations and

Characterization

• Watershed management strategies


Hudson River Estuary

Program

Conserving the Hudson River

and its watershed for all its

residents


1. Protecting fish, wildlife & habitats

The Estuary is crucial habitat

for many species, such as sturgeon.


2. Providing river access for all:


Sea level is rising

Water levels at Manhattan are up

15 inches in the last 150 years

Winter temps up 5 degrees (F)

3. Adapting to Climate Change

Threads through all our work


Waterfronts are flooding

Kingston in 2005


4. Conserving

Renowned Scenery

Our forests, wetlands, mountains

& streams are part of this scenic

beauty


5. Ensuring Clean Water


What is a Watershed?

The land and water

that drain to a

common outlet.

*Typically <1% is

actually water


HR Watershed

Entire watershed

~13,500 mi2

Lower Hudson (below Troy)

~ 5,300 square miles

~ 8,860 miles of mapped

streams

~ 65 named direct tribs

~ 1,400 lakes/ponds

~ 324 significant

lakes/ponds


Estuary-tributary

connections

Spring Summer

Winter

• Important coastal habitat

• Hydrology – freshwater

• Nutrients (e.g., carbon)

• Pollutants

Its also about us


Characterizing the Hudson

Estuary Watershed:

• Observations

• Infrastructure

• Quality

• And some anecdotes


Very Nice Streams and

Watersheds…

We need to map and

highlight healthy waters.


But, watersheds are changing

Encroaching on streams – removing vegetation


Disturbing and Paving over the

watershed

Roads and parking lots account for

a high % of total imperv surface

Interrupting hydrologic cycle


Impervious

Surface by

County


Stormwater & Nonpoint

Source Pollution

• No systematic inventory but

everywhere.

• Quassaick Watershed - over 100

inventoried ponds. Doesn’t include

older developments.


Effects of Impervious Surface

on Stream Stability and Health

Impervious surface increases <10%

Stable

Protected

Unstable

Non-supporting

25-30%

Water velocity increases Erosion sediment, and nutrient loading


Aging Water Infrastructure

Wallkill R., New Paltz, stormwater

overloads wastewater collection

system

We are still relying on these

pipes in many places


Leaky Collection Systems

and Sewage Spills

Newburgh, Quassaick Creek

2012

Troy, Wynants Kill, 2013

Sewage Right to Know Law

- 665 spills May through Oct

- 84MG

- Causes – weather, blockages, and insufficient

capacity


CSOs on the Hudson

Poughkeepsie: 6 outfalls

Yonkers: 26 outfalls

Catskill: 6 outfalls

Hudson: 10 outfalls

Newburgh: 12 outfalls

Kingston: 7 outfalls

Albany Pool - Albany, Rensselaer, Troy, East Greenbush, Bethlehem, & Watervliet: 92 outfalls


Wastewater

Plants

• 373 plants

• 77 needing

significant

improvements (NYSEFC Intended Use Plan)


Dams DEC regulated

Almost 2,000 “known” dams

Unknown dams everywhere

Woodbury Creek (Moodna

watershed)

3 dams per stream mile


Aging Dams

• Median date

built - 1953

• Design life

often 50 years


Irene

Affected

Dams

Over 30 dams affected


Bridges and Culverts

• Transportation infrastructure, but we should

think of them as water infrastructure as well.

• Vulnerable areas of human/nature conflict


After A Big Storm


Road Closures

and Damage

from TS

Irene/Lee


River Gages

Approximately 25

gages in the HV set

new flood state records

during TS Irene


Damaging the Natural

Infrastructure that Protects Water

Wetlands, forests, and floodplain

- Free

- Effective

- Sustainable


Signficant Disturbance to

Small Streams

• We treat them as ditches


Water

Supplies in

the Hudson

Valley


• ~2M people served by 700 community public water supply systems in the Hudson River estuary watershed (Non-NYC System)

• Surface water – 131 public systems serving 82% of the population

• Groundwater – 569 public systems serving 18% of the population

Community Water Systems in the Hudson River Estuary Watershed


Water supply

watersheds

are

threatened


~450,000 customers affected

Average notice lasted for 11 days

Boil Water Notices: Irene/Lee


Boil Water Notices During

Irene Research

• Weak, exposed points in the

distribution system played the primary

role in whether a BWN was issued

– E.g., pipes breaking at on bridges

• More forested the water district and

distribution area = higher vulnerability

• More prior violations (2009) = less

vulnerable

– Maintenance helped?


DEC Measures Change in

Streams in Two ways

• Human-based ‘best use’ or

classification

– Whether it meets CWA

“fishable/swimmable goals”

• Biological condition based on

stream critters

VS.


Human Based Best Use

• ~20% of streams/rivers don’t meet use

(drinking, swimming, fishing propagation,

fish survival)

– Agriculture and urban/suburban runoff

• ~61% of lakes/reservoirs don’t meet use

– Atmos. deposit. and urban/suburban runoff

• Streams being listed as impaired outpaces

those being restored


Current Status

of Water

Quality based

on Stream

Invertebrates

(biomonitoring)


Biomonitoring Results and

Trends


Riverkeeper’s Citizen

Science Water Quality

Study

– 155 testing sites (+ exploratory)

– Monthly testing: May –Nov

– Enterococcus (“Entero”): a fecal contamination indicator

– 74 Hudson River sites

– 81 Tributary sites

– Sparkill Creek

– Pocantico River

– Wallkill River

– Rondout Creek

– Esopus Creek

– Catskill Creek


Two Terms That I think

Describe our Trends

• Urban Stream Syndrome

– describes the consistently observed

ecological degradation of streams draining

urban land.

• Migration to Mediocracy

– Converging of high and low quality streams

to a mediocre state.


As Watershed Leaders….

Some Strategies You Should

Advocate to Minimize Impacts

to Water Resources


Take a

“Watershed

Approach”

First and Foremost!


Create

Partnerships


1. Ensure Downstream Needs Have an environmental release/flow policy


2. Maximize Green Infrastructure: Minimize Impervious Surfaces

http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/58930.html

• Infiltrate stormwater – Don’t lose it to runoff.

Capture as groundwater for future needs




3. Protect and

Restore

Streamsides


4. Identify and Replace

Undersized Stream Crossings

and Remove Derelict Dams


4. Manage

Road Ditches

and Runoff

Better

They are

sediment conduits


5. Institute Comprehensive Raw

Water Quality Monitoring Prog.

• Wadable Assessments by Volunteer

Evaluators (WAVE)


6. Advocate for Improvements

to Wastewater Infrastructure


7. Stay away from streams

and out of Floodplains!


8. Protect Remaining

Wetlands and Priority Forests


9. Adopt Local Water Strategies


Scott Cuppett

Hudson River Estuary Program

NYS Dept of Env. Conservation

Tel. 845/256-3029

[email protected]

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