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Schoharie Watershed Turbidity Strategy
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A collaborative project involving property owners, local decision-makers & watershed agencies across 13 municipalities in the northeastern Catskill Mountains
Municipalities
Town of Ashland Town of Conesville Town of Gilboa Town of Hunter Village of Hunter Town of Jefferson Town of Jewett Town of Lexington Town of Prattsville Town of Roxbury Town of Stamford Village of Tannersville Town of Windham
Counties
Delaware Greene Schoharie |
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The Schoharie Watershed basin is 314 square miles and spans 13 municipalities and three counties in the northeast Catskill Mountains. It is part of New York City’s water supply. The Schoharie Reservoir is in the northern most part of the city’s water system where the communities are predominantly rural. Outdoor-based tourism, such as skiing, hiking, fishing, and biking, and the myriad businesses that rely on tourists and second homeowners, is a significant part of the local economy.
When the Memorandum of Agreement between NYC, the USEPA and the upstate communities was signed in 1997, it established a host of programs and regulations designed to minimize degradation of the water supply. A key component of these Watershed Partnership and Protection Programs focused on assessment of stream systems and the development of detailed Stream Management Plans on a sub-basin scale. Since 1997, the Greene County Soil & Water Conservation District (GCSWCD) has worked in partnership with NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) to develop comprehensive Stream Management Plans (SMP) in all primary sub-basins to the Schoharie reservoir. |
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Focus Groups
An integral component of coordinating ideas and suggestions that originated at the Watershed Summit is organizing focus groups. Focus groups have been formed for:
Highway Superintendents
Contractors, Engineering Firms & Permitting Agencies
Municipal & Planning officials, Code Enforcement Officers
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Schoharie Watershed Water Quality Summit January 27, 2007
Attended by over 120 local officials, property owners and agency personnel, the Watershed Summit was an opportunity to bring together key interest groups to learn about the status of turbidity in the basin and begin brainstorming approaches that could be implemented locally.
A Summary of the Summit can be found here. (856 Kb .pdf) |
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The Schoharie Turbidity Strategy started in June, 2006 and is expected to take about a year and half to complete. A step-by-step overview of the project including the roles of the Schoharie Basin Working Group (SBWG), the Steering Committee, and Focus Groups can be found in the summary document: Schoharie Watershed Turbidity Reduction Strategy (350 Kb, .pdf )
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What is Turbidity & Why Do We Care?
The Nature of Turbidity in the Schoharie Basin and associated problems for NYC’s water supply. |
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Local officials, property owners and agency personnel representing the 13 municipalities learn about local conservation programs from a host of agencies including Greene County Cornell Cooperative Extension at the 2007 Watershed Summit. |
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Watershed Assistance Program PO Box 996, 6049 Main Street Tannersville, NY 12485 Phone 518.589.6871 Fax 518.589.6874
Michelle Yost, WAP Coordinator
Jeff Flack Executive Director jeff@gcswcd.com
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While these SMPs provide a detailed focus on the main stream system, they also identify recommendations related to other topics such as education and outreach, water quality, floodplain management, etc. There was, however, no program or mechanism in place to comprehensively extend these recommendations to the entire watershed community. Recognizing this gap, the GCSWCD submitted a New York State Department of State grant to initiate a watershed-wide strategy that focuses on the broader SMP stewardship recommendations that apply to all municipalities in the watershed—the Schoharie Turbidity Reduction Strategy.
The goal of the Schoharie Turbidity Reduction Strategy is to develop a local, action based strategy for addressing water quality problems, namely turbidity levels, in the Schoharie basin. The intent again is to build upon general recommendations in the SMPs. Through its Watershed Assistance Program (WAP), the GCSWCD is bringing together a diverse group of local officials, interested property owners and watershed management agencies to take the lead in developing practical solutions for water quality protection across the entire basin.
The expanded approach is based on the principle that planning at the watershed-scale is more effective in terms of water quality protection and cost savings. Moreover, it encourages local level oversight and control, which, in a state that espouses home rule governance, puts the responsibility more on the shoulders of local governments and departments to protect resources as opposed to being regulated by outside agencies. Soliciting the involvement of property owners and local decision-makers to address non-point source pollution from the “ground up” is the primary focus of the strategy. The grassroots effort is designed to empower all local communities in the basin to work together and learn from one another about the status of water quality and what local implementation measures should be taken to minimize its degradation. |
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Deep clay deposits underlying streams contributes significantly to the turbidity conditions in the Schoharie Watershed. |
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Town of Lexington planning and municipal officials convene during a break at the 2008 Watershed Summit. Click on the link below for handouts and a summary of the well attended 2008 Summit. |
