Watershed Protection through Local Leadership in the Schoharie Basin

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Watershed Protection through Local Leadership in
the Schoharie Basin
David Burns and Michelle Yost NYCDEP and
GCSWCD September 15, 2009
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Presentation Outline

• Assessment and Demonstration
• Development of Stream Management Plans
• Adoption of plans by communities and MOU with
  GCSWCD
• Demonstration of Best Management Practices
• SMP Implementation
• Evolution of the Schoharie Watershed
• Advisory Committee (SWAC)
• SWAC structure

• Stream Management Plan Implementation Fund

East Kill entering Colgate Lake
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Schoharie Basin

• 3162 mile watershed
• 13 Municipalities
• Steep topography formed during last period of
  glaciation
• Basin is located in Greene (76), Schoharie
• (16), and Delaware (8 ) Counties
• Part of Catskill System which supplies 40 of
  NYC water

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• Stream Management Plan Development

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Stream Management Plan

• Multi-objective to coordinate disparate mgt
  goals, traditions and practices that might
  otherwise be at cross purposes
• Community-based to ensure inclusive,
  transparent planning involving all interested
  stakeholders, especially private streamside
  landowners
• Watershed-scale because stream systems are
  impossible to manage effectively without
  considering ALL functional linkages.

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Stakeholder Involvement

• Hosted Stakeholder Planning Sessions
• Hired a facilitator to host workshops and
  information sessions completed stakeholder
  surveys
• Formed individual stream-based project advisory
  committees to prioritize recommendations for
  their basin.

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Management Units
Each stream was divided into management units to
facilitate interpretation of conditions and to
make management recommendations
Valley slope Valley confinement Historical
channel alignment Vertical and lateral
controls Clay exposures and bank erosion
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Stream Feature Inventory
Physical inventory of stream corridor conditions
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Eroding Banks
Clay Exposures
Dump Sites
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Riparian Vegetation Mapping
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Historical Stream Alignment
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Stream Reach Conditions Map
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Other Components

• Basic Watershed Planning (why, how, who)
• Natural and Institutional Resources
• Water quality assessment based on existing data
• Introduction to Stream Processes
• Management Unit Descriptions
• Recommendations specific
• and general

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Local Implementation

• All (8) municipalities in Greene County have
  gone through the SEQR process and adopted the
  relevant SMP Conesville in Schoharie County also
  adopted Manor Kill plan.
• Municipalities signed an Memorandum of
  Understanding with SWCDs to work collaboratively
  towards the implementation of stream management
  plans, and with stream issues
• All municipalities have appointed representatives
  to SWAC.

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Local Implementation

• DEP committed 2 million towards implementation
  of stream management plans
• GCSWCD, through DEP agreements, provide staffing
  for implementation
• SWAC developed an application process to guide
  implementation
• DEP and GCSWCD ensure projects are consistent
  with Stream Management Plans

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Demonstration Projects
Holden Stream Restoration Batavia Kill
Sugar Maples Stormwater/Riparian Project
Batavia Kill
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Demonstration Project Goals

• Develop a Network of Natural Channel Design
  Projects and Best Management Practices
• Meet multiple objectives including
  improved/protected water quality, habitat
  creation, infrastructure and property protection
• Training potential for local municipalities
• Design projects that impact the stream to fit
  within the streams natural conditions thus
  limiting human-induced stream instabilities and
  the resulting erosion

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Demonstration Projects

• Type of Project Number Stats
• Full Channel Restoration 11 5.5
  miles/157 acres
• Riparian Buffer 8 1.3 miles/6.7 acres
• Stormwater 2
• Infrastructure 7

Riparian planting along the Schoharie, 2009
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Demonstration Projects
Full Channel Restoration
Conine Stream Restoration, Batavia Kill, 2007
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Demonstration Projects
Range from Appropriate sizing of culverts
Culvert Replacement, Schoharie Creek Tributary,
2008
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Demonstration Projects
Stormwater
Tannersville Stormwater Retrofit
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Conclusion Part 1

• For the past thirteen years weve focused on
  assessment, stream management planning and
  developing demonstration projects.
• Now that weve completed stream management plans
  for the majority of basin streams we are now
  moving into stream management plan implementation.

Stream Assessment
Schoharie Watershed Advisory Committee
Riparian Restoration Demo
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Moving beyond planning Implementing Stream
Management Plans through local leadership in the
Schoharie basin
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Sub-basin committees evolved to basin-wide
Advisory Committee
Schoharie Watershed Advisory Committee
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SWAC Voting Committee Members

• Towns within the Schoharie Creek basin
• Hunter, Windham, Jewett, Lexington, Ashland,
  Prattsville, Gilboa, Roxbury, and Conesville 9
• Villages within the Schoharie Creek basin
• Hunter and Tannersville 2
• County Legislator 1
• Appointees from three subcommittees
• Highway, Education, and Recreation/Habitat
  3
• 15

• Locally Driven
• Appointed representatives (2) serving two year
  terms, with no term limits
• Advisory Members Local, State and Federal
  Agencies and Non-Government Organizations

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SWAC Advisory Members

• New York City Department of Environmental
  Protection
• Greene County Soil and Water Conservation
  District
• US Army Corps of Engineers
• Greene County Highway
• NYS Department of
• Transportation
• NYS Department of
• Environmental Conservation
• NYS Department of Health
• Schoharie County Representatives

• Delaware County Representatives
• Greene County Planning Department
• Cornell Cooperative Extension of Greene County
• Catskill Watershed Corporation
• Catskill Center
• Greene Land Trust
• Mountaintop Arboretum
• Non-profit foundations Catskill
• Mountain, Hunter, Community of Windham
  Foundations
• Trout Unlimited

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Subcommittees
Outreach/Education
Highway Supers
Habitat/Recreation
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• General Guidelines
• GCSWCD and DEP staff review project ideas, ensure
  consistency with stream management plans GCSWCD
  assign staff person/funding category
• GCSWCD and DEP coordinate with SWAC to draft
  action plan updates and revisions these plans
  will guide the work and schedule for Schoharie
  stream management plan implementation
• Meetings open to public

STREAM MANAGEMENT PLAN IMPLEMENTATION Action Plan
2007 2009
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Schoharie Basin Action Plan

• Plans direct activities for SMP Implementation
  developed by SWAC

• Subject Areas within current Action Plan
• Program Administration
• Education on Watershed Protection
• Landowner Stream Assistance
• Creative Stormwater Practices and
• Critical Area Seeding
• Planning and Assessment
• Highway and Infrastructure Improvements
• Recreation and Stream Habitat Improvement
• On-going Activities

Goal integrate activities where there is a
direct relationship to SMP implementation
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Funding Categories
Category GCSWCD Staff
Education and Outreach Josh
Infrastructure/Highway Jake
Landowner Stream Assistance  Joel
Stormwater management and critical area seeding Jake
Recreation-based opportunities Michelle
Habitat Enhancements Carrie
Planning and Assessment Abbe
General Project Jeff/Dave
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Landowner Stream Assistance

• Erosion
• Invasives Plants
• Riparian Buffers
• Land Stewardship

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Infrastructure Planning

• Bridges
• Culverts
• Road Embankments
• Utility Crossings
• Floodplain Management

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Stormwater Management/Low Impact

• Ponds
• Wetlands
• Infiltration
• Filtering Systems
• Open Channels

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Education Outreach

• Workshops
• Newsletters
• Public Meetings
• School Programs
• Presentations
• Stream Clean-ups
• Volunteer Plantings
• AmeriCorps sponsorship
• Kiosk Series

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Supporting local decision-makers through
coordinated workshops
NYCDEP
Schoharie Co. Planning
Windham Planning Board
NYSDEC
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Recreation HabitatEnhancement

• Stream Access
• Fisheries Improvement
• Navigability
• Habitat enhancement
• Water quality protection

Brown trout fingerlings
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Planning Assessment

• Floodplain Management
• Flood Response
• Land Use/Open Space
• Recreational Resources
• Economic Development

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Criteria for Funding Decisions

• Project is within a municipality that has adopted
  the relevant SMP
• Effects on stream stability and sediment
  transport
• Water quality benefits
• Public benefit to broader basin communities
• Protects infrastructure
• Improves habitats, general ecology or increases
  recreational access
• Feasibility of project, approach is consistent
  with principles set forth in stream management
  plans

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Increasing role of SWAC in Action Plan
Development Process

• Decision-making, setting priorities
• Develop Application process
• Review Criteria for scoring projects
• Input on subcommittees/ serve as liaison to
  SWAC
• Review outreach and reporting material

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First round of proposals received August 1st

• Culvert replacement improve proper drainage,
  reduce erosion, enhance habitat
• Thermal refuges study to determine where cold
  water refuges in Schoharie and West Kill exist to
  protect them
• Streamside plantings and engineering services to
  stabilize eroding banks
• Manor Kill Environmental Study Team/Stream Mngt.
  Implementation Program
• Prattsville Stream Access
• Stormwater retrofit for LEED project with
  multiple community benefits

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Sample Highway/Infrastructure Proposal, Ashland
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Planning Assessment Proposal Thermal remote
sensing
infrared image (FLIR)
100 x 150 m
Airborne thermal remote sensing
Reflectance converted to temperature
Converted to a GIS point coverage
Slide complements of USGS
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Education and Outreach Proposal Manor Kill
Environmental Study Team
Photos Joyce Valenti
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Key is integrating programs, technical
assistance, funding to support local
communities toward addressing SMP activities on a
watershed scale
Stable riparian corridor
Sugar Maples team
Creek walk, Hunter Foundation
SWAC
Stormwater Management
Roadside ditch protection
Windham Mtn. stormwater project Tour
Youth presentations
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Thank You
More Info
www.catskillstreams.org
David Burns Michelle Yost NYCDEP GCSWCD dburns_at_d
ep.nyc.gov Michelle_at_gcswcd.com