Program Goals

The overall goal of the CSBI is to inform and assist landowners in better stewardship of their riparian (streamside) areas through protection, enhancement, management, or restoration. DEP and Greene County Soil & Water Conservation District will assist private, riparian landowners throughout the Schoharie watershed by providing:

1) Riparian Corridor Management Plans to create awareness about riparian management issues specific to individual properties.

2) Best management practice design and/or prescriptive measures and installation to encourage positive riparian stewardship.

3) Educational materials and activities as needed by landowners to understand the critical role of their buffer and how to maintain it in optimal functioning condition.

CSBI Accomplishments in the Schoharie Basin

Since the inception of the CSBI in 2009, there have been 34 landowner CSBI plantings and 3 pilot project CSBI plantings in the Schoharie Basin. The GCSWCD also held a workshop in July 2010 entitled Heathy Buffers, Healthy Streams to discuss the CSBI program with streamside landowners in West Kill.

Program Eligibility

Any watershed landowner with property within a riparian buffer area can receive technical assistance and a Riparian Corridor Management Plan. Landowners should contact Laura Weyeneth, the Schoharie Basin CSBI Coordinator to find out if they own property within the riparian area. Upon completion of a Plan, the landowner is eligible to apply to the CSBI for funding to implement plan recommendations. One caveat to eligibility for funding of practices is that each town must adopt Stream Management Plans that have been adopted within the town’s boundary. Luckily, all Mountaintop towns have adopted Stream Management Plans.

Program Documents

• CSBI brochure
• CSBI program guidelines
• CSBI application materials

Application Procedures and Participation Requirements

1. Applications are available here and at the GCSWCD office in Cairo. Assistance is available for application development, draft review, and budget development. A complete application must be received by GCSWCD by the posted deadline

2. Each year two grant rounds will be held, with deadlines of January 15th and June 1st. All applicants will be promptly notified of their funding status (denied or approved) and all grant recipients will be given one year to complete their initial implementation work. Projects will be allowed a five-year adjustment period, during which time replanting, invasive species management or pest management may be necessary.

3. Participants may receive up to a maximum of $50,000 in one application year towards the payment of certain stewardship practices (design and/or installation). Participants may apply in subsequent years with a maximum lifetime award of $150,000.

4. Landowner participation is necessary, either monetarily or through in-kind services (i.e. assistance with practice installation, recruitment of volunteers, maintenance of practice, participation in training workshops, other volunteer activities, etc.). The greater commitment made by the applicant, the higher rating the application will receive.

5. Applicants must budget for and include plans for project maintenance at a level appropriate to the work being conducted. For example, invasive species eradication projects may require a larger maintenance budget than a simple native planting project.

6. An eligibility check will be conducted on each application. If a property is enrolled in another watershed program efforts will be made to ensure practices are allowable under that program’s restrictions. The program’s representatives will also be notified of all landowner funding and project approvals to avoid program duplication within the watershed region.

7. Upon application acceptance, Laura Weyeneth, the Schoharie Basin CSBI Coordinator (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (518) 622-3620), will work with the landowner to implement the approved practice. GCSWCD will assist with project bidding, permitting and/or installation as appropriate.

CSBI Partner Organizations

The CSBI is led by a core team of six CSBI Coordinators– five working from County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) offices in the West of Hudson Watershed, and led by one overall program manager from DEP in Kingston, New York. The CSBI is a functional unit of the DEP Stream Management Program (SMP), and as such the six Coordinators will be supported by technical teams established through the SMP at each SWCD as part of their contracts to implement stream management plans. Please contact your local CSBI Coordinator to discuss your riparian project: