WRWA Meeting: 15 Jul 2015

This past Wednesday was the second meeting of what has become the Ulster County chapter of the Wallkill River Watershed Alliance. 23 people (including a reporter from the New Paltz Times) heard reports from our Science, Outreach, Boat Brigades and Mapping Working Groups, as well as a report on the new Northern Orange County chapter. Jacob Oblander of the Hudson …

Dead Carp

Riverkeeper has received several reports of dead carp on the Wallkill River near New Paltz, and has reported it to the NYSDEC. The Alliance is monitoring the situation and will update this page when we know more. IF YOU OBSERVE DEAD FISH, please contact DEC at 845-256-3161. Report: — the location dead fish were seen — the number observed — …

Tree Planting

More than 600 volunteers have planted over 6,000 native trees and shrubs along the Wallkill River and its tributaries with the Hudson River Estuary Trees for Tribs Program to improve water quality and stream health. Want to get involved? Do you own or manage land along a stream? If you have a site that could use some plants, visit www.dec.ny.gov/lands/43668.html …

Questionable Water Pipes

The first Boat Brigade Report found the follow questionable water pipes flowing water into the river on a dry day. The Report was sent to the township responsible for this section of the river, and the pipes are being investigated. On Saturday, June 6, a group of kayakers explored a section of the Wallkill River as part of a new …

Join the Policy Working Group

The Policy Working Group is recruiting! Our first order of business obviously is discussing the merits of Impaired Waterway Status (303d) when the list opens again next year. Here’s a DEC link on the subject: http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/31290.html Another obvious role might be to compile/write “best practices” laws for our local government allies to take up. Some examples might include: Wetlands Protection …

Mapping Resources

At our June 4th meeting, many people were interested in mapping the pollution, stormwater and outfalls in the Wallkill and its tributaries. We have a few people who contacted me to sign up, but I know there are more out there who want to help with this. Emily Vail of the Hudson River Estuary Program suggested that this Mapping Working …

Water Sampling

Community scientists throughout the Wallkill River Watershed are taking monthly water samples for processing aboard the Riverkeeper patrol boat’s lab. We test the water for Enterococcus,an EPA-recommended indicator of fecal contamination that can be used to assess whether water meets federal safe-swimming guidelines. Linked here are the results from sampling on May 30, which include three new sampling sites in …