UPPER HUDSON RIVER WATERSHED REVITALIZATION PLAN Draft – 1.27.2019 Preparation of the Upper Hudson River Watershed Management Plan was funded through a New York State Department of State Title 11 Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) grant to the Town of Horicon Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 7 1.2 Municipalities and Population ............................................................................................................ 9 1.3 History ................................................................................................................................................. 9 1.4 Public Participation ............................................................................................................................. 9 1.5 Vision and Goals .................................................................................................................................. 9 Chapter 2. Watershed Characteristics ........................................................................................................ 11 2.1 Introduction....................................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Watershed and Subwatershed Boundaries ....................................................................................... 11 2.3 Historical Context .............................................................................................................................. 13 2.4 Municipalities and Population Centers ............................................................................................. 13 2.5 Land Use and Land Cover .................................................................................................................. 14 2.6 Environmental Setting ...................................................................................................................... 15 2.7 Pollution Sources .............................................................................................................................. 16 2.8 Subwatershed Assessments .............................................................................................................. 19 2.9 Regulatory Review and Assessment ................................................................................................. 26 Chapter 3. Priority Issues and Water Quality Concerns .............................................................................. 29 3.1 Stormwater ....................................................................................................................................... 29 3.2 Agriculture......................................................................................................................................... 32 3.3 Erosion .............................................................................................................................................. 37 3.4 Invasive Species ................................................................................................................................ 45 3.5 Water and Wastewater ..................................................................................................................... 53 3.6 Aquatic Organism Passage ................................................................................................................ 65 Chapter 4. Recommendations and Implementation .................................................................................. 67 4.1 Implementation ................................................................................................................................ 67 4.2 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................ 67 Chapter 5. Funding, Tracking and Monitoring ............................................................................................ 69 5.1 Funding ............................................................................................................................................. 69 5.2 Tracking and Monitoring ................................................................................................................... 70 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................. 71 1 | U pper Hudson Ri ver Watershed Revitalization Plan – D r a f t 1 . 2 7 . 2 0 2 0 Appendix A. Survey Results ......................................................................................................................... 72 Table of Figures Figure 1. Land use within the Upper Hudson River Watershed by Percentage.......................................... 14 Figure 2. Tamhannock Reservoir Evaluation. Source .............................................................................. 3332 Figure 3. Permitted water withdrawal uses in the Upper Hudson River Watershed. ............................ 5352 Figure 4. Number of public water supply users per county. ................................................................... 6160 Figure 5. Types of drinking water contaminants and sources.. .............................................................. 6261 2 | U pper Hudson Ri ver Watershed Revitalization Plan – D r a f t 1 . 2 7 . 2 0 2 0 Executive Summary The Hudson River is one of the most culturally, economically, and ecologically important waterbodies in New York State. Overtime, human activity – including industrialization, urbanization, and modification have placed significant pressure on the region’s natural resources. This plan takes stock of that pressure and identifies goals and projects that will improve the water quality within the Upper Hudson River Watershed. The Hudson River begins as a small mountain lake on the side of New York’s highest peak, Mount Marcy, and travels 315 miles to the New York Harbor. Approximately halfway along its course, at the Troy Dam, the river becomes an estuary – it is at this point where the scope of this plan ends. The Upper Hudson River Watershed is a part of the larger Upper Hudson River Basin which stretches across about 7.5 million acres. This plan focuses on the seven counties, 95 municipalities, more than 7,000 miles of freshwater rivers and 229 significant ponds, lakes and reservoirs to evaluated the present conditions of the watershed, set a vision and goals for the future of the watershed and identify projects and recommendations in order to achieve those goals. This document provides guidance on potential future actions within the watershedand identifies 143 projects were identified, totaling over $30,000,000 in water quality improvements to aide in achieving the articulated goals for the watershed. Preparation of this plan was led by the Upper Hudson River Watershed Coalition (UHRWC) together with an advisory committee More than 140 of local officials and water quality professionals. The Upper Hudson projects identified, River Watershed Coalition (UHRWC) was formed in 2014, with a totaling $30,000,000 mission to “Provide a coordinated effort to improve water quality and other natural resources within the New York Upper Hudson River in water quality Watershed counties through project planning and implementation.” improvement UHRWC is comprised of representatives from the soil and water projects throughout conservation districts (SWCDs) of the seven counties in the watershed: Essex, Fulton, Hamilton, Saratoga, Rensselaer, Warren, the watershed. and Washington, along with one representative from each of the represented regional planning boards: the Lake Champlain – Lake George Regional Planning Board (LCLGRPB) and the Capital District Regional Planning Commission (CDRPC), and one representative from the Greater Adirondack Resource Conservation and Development Council (GARDC). The members of UHRWC initiated this watershed management plan and served on the advisory committee. Members of the UHRWC contributed to the development of this plan based on their individualized expertise. Preparation of the Upper Hudson River Watershed Management Plan was funded through a New York State Department of State Title 11 Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) grant to the Town of Horicon and represents a regional approach to watershed planning that involves representatives from a wide geographical area. 3 | U pper Hudson Ri ver Watershed Revitalization Plan – D r a f t 1 . 2 7 . 2 0 2 0 Vision: The Upper Hudson River Watershed is an incredible place to live, work, play, and visit. With a variety of uses that depend on the abundance of clean and healthy water and open space resources, diverse fisheries, publicly accessible recreational opportunities and infrastructure, vital and productive agricultural community, sustainable forestry product industry, and thriving and resilient municipalities with actively involved residents. Based on this vision, the following goals were identified