Hudson RiverNet
News from the Hudson River Estuary Program

In This Issue:

• Restoring Free-Flowing Waters in Hudson Tributary Streams
• Resilient Hudson River Shoreline Designs Webinar Nov. 20 

Restoring Free-Flowing Waters in Hudson Tributary Streams

Fresh water river and stream habitats are linked to the estuary through a network of tributary connections. Each year, migratory fish must navigate these pathways to move between feeding, nursery, and spawning grounds. Many culverts and dams are blocking fish movement, dramatically shrinking the habitat available. There are more than 1,600 dams and 10,000 culverts in the estuary watershed.

DEC grant funding helps communities assess and replace these barriers. More than $855,000 recently was awarded to four projects to help reduce local flooding and restore aquatic habitats in tributary streams of the Hudson River Estuary. These funds will support projects to restore free-flowing waters to benefit water quality and restore aquatic habitat connectivity for Species of Greatest Conservation Need, including the American eel and river herring. The grants were provided through DEC’s Environmental Protection Fund. Read more about the projects in DEC’s press release.

Riverkeeper, in partnership with DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program, recently removed two dams on tributaries to the Hudson: the Strooks Felt Dam on the Quassaick Creek in Newburgh, and a dam on Furnace Brook in Oscawana Park in Cortlandt. The dams were the first barriers for fish movement upstream from the Hudson River. Removing the dams will improve water quality and habitat for resident and migratory fish, including river herring and American eel. Funding for the dam removals was provided by the NYS Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), administered by Hudson River Estuary Program from a grant for tributary restoration and resilience.

Resilient Hudson River Shoreline Designs Webinar November 20

This webinar will present the preliminary designs for sustainable shoreline projects in Kingston and Piermont, New York. Both communities participated in the Climate-Adaptive Design Studio, a program that links Cornell University graduate and undergraduate students in landscape architecture with flood-prone communities on the Hudson to create design concepts that incorporate projections for sea-level rise and extreme weather. In collaboration with each municipality, design and engineering firms selected and developed a design concept for two vulnerable shorefront locations. In Piermont, HDR Engineering prepared a preliminary design for a living shoreline project that emphasizes protection and stabilization of existing shorelines and development of shallow water habitat while providing recreational access to the Hudson. In Kingston, SuperMass Studio created a design to stabilize the shoreline, create habitat, and reinforce the beach at Kingston Point.

Representatives of the municipalities and the design firms will discuss the process of stakeholder engagement and present the site assessments, design objectives, conceptual plans, and permitting considerations. The webinar will take place Friday, November 20 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. For more information and to register, visit the webpage for the Sustainable Shorelines Designs Webinar Series.