Upper Neversink River Stream Management Plan 1 4 2 3 5 6 8 7 10 9 11 12 15 13 14 19 21 16 20 22 18 17 23 Bob Dice painted The Claryville Mural during the years 1973–1979, an 1. Female Cardinal 9. Whitetail faun 17. Bicknell’s Thrush illustration of both the natural and built worlds of the Neversink River. 2. Male Cardinal 10. Bobcat 18. Daylily The mural includes many different images of the Claryville area including 3. Great Rhododendron 11. Blue Flag Iris 19. Blue Marsh Violet the fire tower, tannery chimneys, the old General Store and post office and 4. Eastern Hemlock 12. Wood Duck 20. Wild Turkey Hen some of the oldest homes in the area. Bob served as Town of Neversink 5. Mountain Laurel 13. Whitetail buck 21. Wild Turkey Tom Historian for a number of years and is remembered for the local history 6. Silky Willow 14. Brook Trout 22. Pink Lady Slippers hikes he lead. The painting, presently owned by the Dice family, shows his 7. Ruffed Grouse 15. Fragrant Water Lily 23. American Goldfinch love and knowledge of the neighborhood. 8. Soapwort 16. Variegated Pond-Lily Upper Neversink River Stream Management Plan Acknowledgments The Rondout Neversink Stream Program including Stacie Howell and Brenden Wagner. Due is pleased to release the Upper Neversink River Stream to watershed regional similarities, significant portions Management Plan, a guide outlining management of this Neversink Plan were adapted from plans created options for local residents, municipalities, interested for the Rondout, Schoharie and Ashokan basins. organizations and agencies to conserve the Neversink The planning process would not be possible watershed. without the helpful, active involvement and public The Project Team gives special thanks to the support of Stream Management Planning by the streamside residents who assisted the planning Town Supervisors of Denning and Neversink, Bill effort by providing valuable information in our Bruning and Mark McCarthy, respectively. Highway public surveys, sharing history, maps and photo- Superintendents Dan Van Saders (Denning) and graphs of the stream, and giving permission for our Preston Kelly (Neversink) contributed invalu- field crews to access the stream for data collection. able information from the field in their area of We met many landowners who shared their experi- expertise. And thank you to those who attended ences of living streamside for generations. Through our neighborhood meetings, and shared stream our stream feature inventory, we developed a better history: Mike Dean, Bud Cox; Karl Connell, the understanding of stream conditions and trends, and late Mike Schiffer, Mitchell and Gioia Brock, and look forward to implementing management recom- members of the Winnisook Club. Our outreach in mendations that will help efforts to coordinate proj- the community related to the plan would not have ects that can meet the communities goals and lead to been successful without the enthusiastic assistance of a healthier Neversink River. Barbara Redfield, Pat Wellington and the members Thanks to the primary authors of this plan: Mark of Neversink Association, our Watershed Advisory Vian and Chris Tran of NYC DEP, Jenn Hoyle of Group participants, and the many additional volun- Milone and Macbroom, Inc., and Carol Smythe teers listed in this document. Your input, support and (Neversink Historian). Additional thanks to the data guidance in development of this plan helped produce collection and management team: Shawn Goulet what we believe will be an important tool for manag- and Dan Melnick of Milone and Macbroom, Inc., ing the Neversink River in challenging times. and Tiffany Runge, Anthony Lombardo, Anthony This plan will be put forth for adoption by the Micucci, Bob Walner, Beth Dickinson, and Lisa Towns of Neversink and Denning during the winter Jennings, student interns from SUNY Ulster. Thanks of 2013. to Paul Brown of NYC DEP who knows the river Karen Rauter, Stream Program Coordinator Rondout Neversink Stream Program from decades of water testing; and the entire staff of Grahamsville, NY Sullivan County Soil & Water Conservation District February 2013 ii Contents Acknowledgments ................................................... ii Introduction ........................................................ iv PART I ENVirONMENT Local History ........................................................ 1 Community Stakeholders ............................................. 4 The Upper Neversink River .......................................... 7 Geology of the Upper Neversink River ................................ 13 Land Use & Land Cover ............................................. 21 Fisheries & Wildlife ................................................ 25 Hydrology & Flood History ......................................... 34 The Riparian Community ...........................................40 Water Quality ...................................................... 52 PART II RECOMMENDatiONS Plan Recommendations ............................................. 58 Three Sample Management Units ................................... 61 Table of Management Unit Recommendations .......................105 PART III IMPLEMENtatiON Water Quality Projects ............................................. 114 Priority Recommendations ........................................ 120 Glossary ......................................................... 124 References ....................................................... 128 Introduction Why do we need a Stream Management The community process for local stream manage- Plan? ment planning is an emerging practice in the Catskills region that recognizes the stream’s importance to our over- all quality of life. The purpose is to coordinate decision- making around common goals we collectively identify for the stream. This stream management plan was created cooperatively by bringing together the Neversink watershed community, local leaders and area agency repre- sentatives, and identifies many common goals for the Neversink River and its adjacent floodplains, forests and wetlands. The residents of the Upper Neversink River valley—from the High Peaks of Denning to the Neversink Reservoir—know the awesome power of the River. Over the past several centuries, they learned how to harness that power for industry, but also to keep out of its way when floodwaters roared. High water on this river is often described as the fearful sound of tumbling boulders as they are pushed down the streambed, shaking the foundations of homes and the people inside. Over generations, working mills, tanneries, berms, revetment and “digger dams” for fish habitat were installed, and in some reaches, the River was intentionally redirected. Abutments and numerous bridges were built to allow human settlement on both sides of the stream. Stunning waterfalls frequently flow across narrow points in the roads constructed through the valley, causing road failures in notorious spots that are faith- fully repaired again and again. Floodplains and streamside wetlands were filled in some places while diversions to sluice water into floodplain ponds were created in others, and pastures and lawns have frequently been cleared along creek banks and terraces. Fishing clubs have historically supplemented the native fish- eries by introducing sport fish for recreation. iv · Stream Management Plan · Each of these activities contributes to the over- responsibility for coordinating all of these isolated all picture of stream management in practice today efforts. More importantly, as a group we can pay along the Neversink. Even with these human more attention to how one action on the stream impacts, the stream remains relatively wild, and may directly compromise the interests and efforts generally quite healthy. It shifts around within its of others. floodplain during big floods, as those who remem- Streams are systems: what someone does ber the floods of 1928 or 1996 and many others on their own stream bank can create significant will attest. The fishing is good, but local anglers effects—good or bad—upstream or downstream. will tell you it was better twenty years ago. The In this way, streams are in many ways a commu- water quality is high for the most part, but recent nity resource, and might be better managed with floods have created new conditions that contrib- ute to turbidity. The forests that have returned to the hillsides throughout the Catskills over the past century keep the water cooler and the banks more stable overall on the Neversink. So why does this stream need a management plan? In past years, most activities affecting the stream have been relatively uncoordinated. Landowners managed their own stream banks and floodplains; highway superintendents managed road embank- ments and bridges; power companies clear their rights-of-way. When there were major problems, federal agencies such as Natural Resources Conservation Service or the Federal Emergency Management Agency brought resources to address immedi- ate needs. NYS Department of Environmental Conservation requires a permit for certain activi- ties in or near streams. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also has a similar permitting program. Each of these players in stream management has had their own objectives, specific knowledge or area of expertise, and individual ideas about what needs to be done to keep their section of the stream healthy. No single force, however, holds v · Upper Neversink River · a coordinated effort. We recognize the many Š Where should we invest our limited