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Reserve for Map 7. Chapter 2: Existing Conditions 31 FEATURES ENVIRONMENTAL NEW YORK Wetlands in the Town of Diana Town in the Wetlands October 6, 2009 Lewis County Lewis LAN major rivers and creeks present within the with county, others including: Moose River, Independence River, Beaver River, Deer River, and Fish Creek. For a more informative understanding of rivers, streamswhere 9. Map see flow, and drain creeks and & Ponds Lakes The North Country region withinYork New State is well known for its spaces amongst flat low, occupy the ponds that and thousands of lakes many ponds Lewis has lakes and and mountains. the many hills County regions. Hill Plateau Tug and Adirondack Foothill the located primarily in The largest of these include: Brantingham Lake, Copper Lake, Chase provide Long Pond, Maple Reservoir/Effley Falls Pond, Lake, SoftLake, Beaver Wetlands and Lake These and the hundreds of other named/unnamed Bonaparte. lakes and ponds connect to the county’s system of rivers, streams and water. creeks, forming watersheds and subwatershedsthat move ground and high of through and surface waters into, out of Lewis County. periods Wetlands during The numerous valleys, lowlands and flats offer where waters locations streams collect and form wetlands. These waterbodies are loosely connected to and the surrounding into flowing only the surrounding drainage patterns, creeks numerous benefits to the environment, including the filtering of run-off animal and of plant breadth provision of a the with along and rain water, habitat not found in most ecological formations. natural Acting as a filtering system, wetlands are high many in waterbodies value locations, and are vigorously protected by both the New York State Department of EnvironmentalConservation Army US the as well as (NYSDEC), Corps of Engineers (USACoE). Within Lewis County there are three primary areas of wetlands. The first Hill is the Tug Plateau. sloping gently relatively The western portions of this region have a heavy concentration of wetlands protected by both the NYSDEC flats flanking broad alluvial the second region is USACoE. The and the the Black River. These areasreceive periodic inflows from river flooding protectand the riverserve to by filtering incoming drainage.The third area is located plane located in the towns of Croghan and in the broad Diana. This area comprises the largest contiguous wetlands within Lewis County, with much of this region owned by the State for conservation and preservationIt should purposes. National be noted that Wetlands portion of Lewis unavailable for a large Inventory (NWI) mapping is P View of the Adirondack Foothills Adirondack the of View OMPREHENSIVE Figure 15: Tug Hill Plateau Cross Section Cross Plateau Hill Tug 15: Figure (see Map 8) Map (see C While Lewis County is defined by its topography, its topography is greatly shaped by the watercourses that run along the land, eroding, cutting and moving the earthfinal en route to their destination inOcean. the Atlantic As discussed previously, the Blackprimary River is the waterbody within many of one only Meandering acrossLewis County. a broad, flatis alluvial plain, this River Black the however, flowswatercourse tranquilly across Lewis County from Lyons Falls to size, its Despite Carthage. The Adirondack Foothills in Lewis County represent the ‘frontdoor’ to the valley plain differs from This region Adirondack Park. New York’s and the plateau by offering dramatic changes in elevation as the numerous stream valleys empty the mountains of the Adirondacks into of these streams has flows the Black River. The directional east to west formed collections of peaks and valleys that stretch alongthe entire slopes in most areas While length of Lewis from north to south. County do not rival the steepness of those found along Hill escarpment, the Tug of expansive zone forms an Foothills Adirondack the topography of the inaccessibility from the edge of the Black River Valley eastward into Herkimer County, greatly hindering the development potential of this region. Waterbodies & Creeks Streams Rivers, River, and 800 feet above the Adirondack Foothills. Overall, the Tug Hill Tug the Overall, Foothills. Adirondack the above feet 800 and River, region within Lewis County ranges from approximately 1,200 to 2,100 feet above sea level. The inaccessibility of this region due to the escarpment, in the North Country and remoteness along its with remarkabledevelopment snowfall to little to no in these totals has led areas and a sparse population. Adirondack Foothills OUNTY C Black River Valley River Black The primary organizing feature of the county’s Black topography is the River Valley. Stretching from south to north, and occupying approximately 24 percent of Lewis County, the BlackRiver EATURES F (see Maps 6 and 7) and 6 Maps (see The Black River flowing north from Lyons Falls Lyons from north flowing River Black The NVIRONMENTAL Topography River Black the miles), square Lewis(421 County’s settlement pattern, economy and social structure are Plateau Hill Tug of composed is three topography. largely The county defined by its the regions: primary shows 6 Valley (308 square miles), and the Adirondack Foothills (561 square Map 11). page on 3 miles). These three regions offer drasticallydifferent topographies that Figure (see are century have shapedlandutilized has been how the since the first settlers arrived 18th the of end the at croplands and should the contiguous topography of the county, depictswhile Map 7 elevation housing rule, percent, 15 general a specifically, More slopes. of steep and highlights the location contours As to 10 percent. of 25 than slopes are broken out into three 15 percent,categories to – five 15 to 25 greater slopes and percent, exceed not be constructed on slopespercent, no greater than 20 to 25 septic field should sites generally limited to slopes less than 18 percent. The Tug Hill region is characterizedthe steep escarpment that formsby along the western boundary of the Black River Valley, and covers more than 32 slopes the 7, and 6 feet percent of the county. The top of the plateau is relatively flat and Maps and 15 2,100 Figure in represents the pinnacle landform’s of this from rise Lake Ontario 38 miles shown As west. the to approximately At the descent of the plateau to the Black River are extremely steep, forming Hill Gomer Turin. at of formation a natural barrier that is relativelyleading impenetrable with few roads the of Town pinnacle the the near from of the valleyto the hilltop. up On the western side of the escarpment region flat corner relatively a is west the in above sea Level, this location is more than 1,400 feet above the Black Tug Hill Plateau flat, dropping only 15 feet from the downstream side of Lyons Falls to Falls Lyons of side downstream the from feet 15 half with a broadthe county nearly alluvial in that Valley bisects plain only extremely is plain valley river The width. in miles five to three from varies dropping flat, prone this region is Carthage in Jefferson County. The flat topography of to flooding, provides the productive alluvial soils that are the yet also basis of Lewis County’s agricultural strength. E This page intentionally left blank.

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Reserve for Map 9. Lewis County NEW YORK COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN October 6, 2009

County. The NWI mapping service is currently updating maps for the The Mohawk River Watershed occupies the smallest distinct drainage in the Town of Croghan near Belfort, and drains a large area of the Lake region. NYSDEC mapping remains available for these areas; all wetlands area within Lewis County, covering just 6,370 acres. This represents the Ontario plain north into St. Lawrence County. These two rivers meet just mapped in Lewis County can be seen on Map 8. headwaters of the Mohawk River, traveling from its northern reaches in a few miles inland of the City of Ogdensburg, draining into the St. the Town of West Turin into the Mohawk River and onto Rome and Lawrence River as the Oswegatchie River. Watersheds (see Map 9) points east, ultimately meeting up with the Hudson River at the City of Cohoes. From there it flows south via the Hudson into the Atlantic Plant and Animal Ecology There are six primary watersheds and 25 subwatersheds that drain Lewis Ocean. County and the surrounding areas. Subwatersheds are those areas from Lewis County is home to many ecological communities across its varied which groundwater and surface water drain and contribute to the flow of Indian River and Oswegatchie River Watersheds terrain. Within those communities exist a variety of rare, threatened, and a larger watershed or drainage basin. The drainage from these These two watersheds drain the northern reaches of Lewis County. endangered plant and animal species. Table 17 lists species protected by watersheds primarily moves west and north into Lake Ontario and the St. Representing 18 percent of the overall drainage area of the county, they state and federal law within Lewis County. Lawrence River, with a small portion of the county draining into the cover vastly different geographies on their way to Lake Ontario. The Table 17: Lewis County Rare, Threatened, & Endangered Species* Mohawk River and ultimately into the Hudson River over 220 miles to Oswegatchie watershed has its origins in the Adirondack Mountains at the east (see Table 16 for watershed collection area information). Cranberry Lake and covers the northern portions of the Adirondack Watershed protection and management is a primary concern in Lewis Foothills in Lewis County. Within Lewis County, the Indian River begins County due to the high level of agricultural activity, particularly dairy, taking place in the region. These types of activities are large single-point Table 16: Lewis County Watersheds

sources of pollution, greatly impacting downstream water quality. Area 3 Total Area Watershed1 Subwatershed2 Currently, a Black River Watershed Management Plan is being developed (acres) (acres) that will provide guidance to county planners and landowners on best Black River Deer River 62,183 practices regarding the protection of the Black River. Mill Creek 22,512 Upper Middle Brach Black River 84,885 Black River Watershed Sugar River 38,181 As depicted in Map 9 and Table 16, the largest watershed within Lewis Moose River 37,478 County drains into the Black River and covers 61 percent of the county. Fish Creek 14,966 502,780 Its 12 subwatersheds vary in size and shape, relating directly to the Otter Creek 27,638 underlying topographic regions. The subwatersheds in the Adirondack Independence River 31,562 Foothills are narrow and relatively linear, stretching from east to west. Beaver River 72,182 Crystal Creek 17,085 Chapter 2: Existing Conditions Existing 2: Chapter The subwatersheds within the Black River Valley and along the Tug Hill Plateau are generally larger and less linear. The Black River Watershed Middle Black River 81,353 drains into Lake Ontario at the Village of Dexter, and then into the St. Lower Middle Black River 12,757 Lawrence River on its way to the Atlantic Ocean. Oneida Lake East Branch Fish Creek 83,705 83,705 Salmon River Upper Salmon River 41,120 Salmon River Reservoir 19,738 Oneida Lake, Salmon River & Mohawk River Watersheds 85,971 Sandy Creek 3,594 These three separate watersheds drain the majority of the western extents South Sandy Creek 21,520 of the county, together draining 21 percent of Lewis County. While these Indian River Black Creek 1,977 watersheds occupy a similar geographic area, they drain into drastically Upper Indian River 59,243 69,705 different basins en route to their final destinations. The Oneida Lake Upper Middle Indian River 8,485 Watershed drains large portions of the Tug Hill Plateau into Fish Creek, Oswegatchie River Upper West Branch Oswegatchie River 32,418 flowing south to Oneida Lake and then into Lake Ontario via the Oswego Middle Branch Oswegatchie River 30,537 76,098 River at the City of Oswego. Lower West Branch Oswegatchie River 9,618 ENVIRONMENTAL Matoon Creek 3,526 FEATURES The Salmon River Watershed drains almost the entirety of the Town of Mohawk River Delta Reservoir 6,370 6,370 Osceola and the southern portions of Montague on the Tug Hill Plateau. Total Area 824,631 It’s two subwatersheds drain into the Salmon River Reservoir en route to 1 HUC-8 Watersheds its destination in Lake Ontario at the Village of Pulaski. 2 HUC-11 Watersheds 3 Represents area within Lewis County Source: NYS Natural Heritage Program * (R) Rare, (T) Threatened, (E) Endangered 34 Source: USGS