UPPER HUDSON RIVER WATERSHED REVITALIZATION PLAN 04. RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION The purpose of the Upper Hudson River Watershed Revitalization Plan is to identify ways to improve the overall conditions of the watershed based on six priority issues: stormwater, agriculture, erosion, invasive species, water and wastewater and aquatic organism passage. Representatives throughout the watershed provided priority projects based on the six priority issues identified in this Plan. The Advisory Committee met to prioritize the projects by issue, first within their respective counties and then at the watershed level. This Plan identifies a total of 190 projects, totaling more than $300,000,000 in funding needs that lead to water quality improvements throughout the Upper Hudson River Watershed. Each identified project aims to achieve one of the eight overarching goals of this Plan. Measures taken to achieve these goals will not only improve the environmental health and vitality of the watershed but will also improve the economic health and vitality of the communities within the watershed that rely on natural resources for their way of life. As set forth previously in this document, the goals of the Plan are to: • Identify threats to water quality resources that potentially adversely impact the natural and economic vitality of the region, • Promote positive and effective planning for implementation of water quality improvement projects, • Assist private agricultural practices and promote the creation of management plans and implementation of best management practices, • Protect and upgrade municipal infrastructure while sensibly reducing impacts of regular municipal maintenance efforts on water resources, • Work with private forest landowners to promote land management plans and best management practices, • Increase preventative measures, detection, management, and outreach and education for aquatic and terrestrial invasive species, • Identify demographic information for outreach programs, and • Establish a proactive partnership between local, county, state, and federal partners. 4.1 IMPLEMENTATION Each project is assigned an implementation timeframe of short term (1-2 years), medium term (3-5 years) or long term (6 or more years). Implementation of priority and short-term projects should begin first, followed by medium-term and long-term projects, as appropriate. In addition to time frame, each project lists potential funding sources and parties who will be involved in the project’s implementation. Projects are listed in the following chart and are organized by priority issue. Priority projects are listed first, followed by short-term, medium-term and long-term projects listed in no order of priority. 4.2 RECOMMENDATIONS Throughout the planning process, projects were collected from Soil and Water Conservation District staff, municipal officials and employees and lake associations. In total, 190 projects were identified with over $300,000,000 in water quality improvement funding needs. The full list of projects is shown in the project charts in Section 4.4 of this chapter. RECOMMENDATIONS | 81 UPPER HUDSON RIVER WATERSHED REVITALIZATION PLAN 4.3 PRIORITY PROJECT MAPS Once all of the recommended projects for this Plan were collected and compiled, the Advisory Committee met to identify priority projects. Each priority issue has its own priority projects that were decided on based on the Advisory Committee’s personal and professional knowledge of their service areas. Project time frame, projected costs and potential funding opportunities were also taken into account for prioritization. Priority projects were mapped by the HUC-10 subwatershed where they are located (Maps 21 - 26). These maps provide a visualization of the subwatersheds in which the priority issues are most prevalent and should be prioritized for funding. Stormwater: Three of the seven priority stormwater projects are located within the Snook Kill – Hudson River HUC-10 subwatershed and two are within the Anthony Kill – Hudson River HUC-10 subwatershed, indicating that stormwater issues are more prevalent in the southern reach of the Upper Hudson River Watershed (Map 21). Agriculture: Of the 17 total Agriculture projects that were identified for this Plan, three are considered priority. All three are clustered in the southern portion of the Upper Hudson Watershed with project overlap in the Snook Kill – Hudson River and Anthony Kill – Hudson River HUC-10 subwatersheds and the Walloomsac River HUC- 10 subwatershed (Map 22). Erosion: The issue of erosion is prevalent throughout the Upper Hudson River Watershed and priority issues are distributed from the most southern subwatershed to the most northern subwatershed. Of the seven priority erosion projects identified, three are located in the Middle Sacandaga River HUC-10 subwatershed. While erosion is an issue throughout the entire watershed, the Middle Sacandaga River HUC-10 subwatershed should be focused on for project implementation (Map 23). Invasive Species: Invasive species are an increasing issue throughout the Upper Hudson River Watershed and priority projects are distributed evenly throughout the HUC-10 subwatersheds (Map 24). Water and Wastewater: Water and Wastewater projects have high project costs and can be directly tied to water quality impairments. Priority projects are located in HUC-10 subwatersheds throughout the Upper Hudson River Watershed (Map 25). Aquatic Organism Passage: Aquatic organism passage is an issue throughout the Upper Hudson River Watershed with many of the barriers to passage tied to infrastructure such as culverts and dams. Seven priority projects are identified in this Plan, with two located in the Anthony Kill – Hudson River HUC-10 subwatershed Map( 26). 82 | RECOMMENDATIONS UPPER HUDSON RIVER WATERSHED REVITALIZATION PLAN Headwaters Hudson River Upper Schroon River Cedar River- Boreas Hudson River River- Hudson River Lower Schroon Jessup River River East Branch Sacandaga Upper River Sacandaga River Stony Creek- Hudson River East Stony West Branch Creek Sacandaga River Lower Sacandaga River Black Creek Snook Kill- West Stony Hudson River Creek Middle Sacandaga Headwaters River Batten Kill Batten Kill Fish Creek Owl Kill Anthony Kill-Hudson River Walloomsac River Lower Hoosic River Middle Hoosic River Copyright:© 2014 Esri Map 21 - Stormwater Priority Projects S-03 by HUC-10 subwatersheds S-01 Source: Ü Subwatersheds: USDA Geospatial S-01 Data Gateway; Upper Hudson River Watershed Boundary: NYSDEC; S-04, S-05, S-06 Watershed Coalition Basemap: ESRI; Adirondack Park Boundary: APA; S-07 Administrative Boundaries: NYSITSGPO Hudson River This map was prepared with funding Upper Hudson River provided by the New York State Adirondack Park Boundary Watershed Department of State under Title 11 of 0 5 10 the Environmental Protect Fund. HUC 10 Subwatersheds Miles Revitalization Plan RECOMMENDATIONS | 83 UPPER HUDSON RIVER WATERSHED REVITALIZATION PLAN Headwaters Hudson River Upper Schroon River Cedar River- Boreas Hudson River River- Hudson River Lower Schroon Jessup River River East Branch Sacandaga Upper River Sacandaga River Stony Creek- Hudson River East Stony West Branch Creek Sacandaga River Lower Sacandaga River Black Creek Snook Kill- West Stony Hudson River Creek Middle Sacandaga Headwaters River Batten Kill Batten Kill Fish Creek Owl Kill Anthony Kill-H udson River Walloomsac River Lower Hoosic River Middle Hoosic River Copyright:© 2014 Esri Map 22 - Agriculture Priority Projects A-01 by HUC-10 Subwatersheds Ü Source: A-02 Subwatersheds: USDA Geospatial Data Gateway; Upper Hudson River Watershed Boundary: NYSDEC; A-03 Watershed Coalition Basemap: ESRI; Adirondack Park Boundary: APA; Hudson River Administrative Boundaries: NYSITSGPO Adirondack Park Boundary This map was prepared with funding Upper Hudson River provided by the New York State HUC 10 Subwatersheds Watershed Department of State under Title 11 of 0 5 10 the Environmental Protect Fund. Miles Revitalization Plan 84 | RECOMMENDATIONS UPPER HUDSON RIVER WATERSHED REVITALIZATION PLAN Headwaters Hudson River Upper Schroon River Cedar River- Boreas Hudson River River- Hudson River Lower Schroon Jessup River River East Branch Sacandaga Upper River Sacandaga River Stony Creek- Hudson River East Stony West Branch Creek Sacandaga River Lower Sacandaga River Black Creek Snook Kill- West Stony Hudson River Creek Middle Sacandaga Headwaters River Batten Kill Batten Kill Fish Creek Owl Kill Anthony Kill-Hudson River Walloomsac River Lower Hoosic River Middle Hoosic River Copyright:© 2014 Esri Map 23 - Erosion E-01 Priority Projects by HUC-10 watersheds E-02, E-04, E-05 Source: Ü E-03 Subwatersheds: USDA Geospatial Data Gateway; E-06 Upper Hudson River Watershed Boundary: NYSDEC; Watershed Coalition Basemap: ESRI; E-07 Adirondack Park Boundary: APA; Administrative Boundaries: NYSITSGPO Hudson River This map was prepared with funding Upper Hudson River provided by the New York State Adirondack Park Boundary Department of State under Title 11 of Watershed HUC 10 Subwatersheds 0 5 10 the Environmental Protect Fund. Miles Revitalization Plan RECOMMENDATIONS | 85 UPPER HUDSON RIVER WATERSHED REVITALIZATION PLAN Headwaters Hudson River Upper Schroon River Cedar River- Boreas Hudson River River- Hudson River Lower Schroon Jessup River River East Branch Sacandaga Upper River Sacandaga River Stony Creek- Hudson River East Stony West Branch Creek Sacandaga River Lower Sacandaga River Black Creek Snook Kill- West Stony Hudson River Creek Middle