A Voice for the Wallkill River
May 4, 2015
Riverkeeper Team
A new citizens movement is taking shape to give voice to the Wallkill River.
Momentum is coming from Riverkeeper's ongoing community science water quality monitoring project, and the debate in New Paltz about whether the Wallkill could or should be treated to supply the community with drinking water when New York City's Catskill Aqueduct is closed for repairs.
Village of New Paltz Mayor Jason West was the catalyst for the Future of the Wallkill River event in April, hosted by SUNY New Paltz's Center for Regional Research Education and Outreach, and attended by 120 people. Other organizers of that event included Riverkeeper, the Town of New Paltz Clean Water and Open Space Protection Commission, the Village of New Paltz Environmental Policy Commission, Mohonk Consultations and the Hudson River Watershed Alliance.
The speakers and audience included county planners and agricultural officials, representatives from the Department of Environmental Conservation -- and a host of residents of Orange and Ulster counties who said they want to help form a new citizens watershed group to maintain focus on the river. That's precisely what speakers said is most needed: A citizen watershed group that can act independently as a voice for the river, but partner closely with government officials and agencies.
120 people attended the Future of the Wallkill River event in April 2015 at SUNY New Paltz. (Photo by Jeremy Cherson/Riverkeeper)
Read coverage of the event in the Times HeraldRecord, New Paltz Times, Mid Hudson Times, Daily Freeman, and Midhudsonnews.com -- or watch a video with excerpts from some of the presentations, or view Riverkeeper's presentation:
Momentum continued building with the New Paltz Regatta, an annual wacky boat race in New Paltz that invites hundreds of people onto the water and along the water's edge.
A scene from the New Paltz Regatta. (Photo by Dan Shapley/Riverkeeper)
And momentum will continue to build May 9, with the Riverkeeper Sweep, our annual day of service for the Hudson River. Cleanups, tree-plantings and other stream protection projects are planned at six locations along the Wallkill River. Choose and register for an event at riverkeeper.org/sweep.
Finally, stay tuned for an invitation to join the new citizen watershed group. A first meeting is expected in early June. It's this group that we hope will give voice to the Wallkill River into the future.
Related campaigns
Water quality monitoring
Riverkeeper is the go-to source for information about the quality of the water along the Hudson River and its tributaries
Remediating and preventing contamination
Cleaning up decades of pollution and preventing more requires scientific understanding, targeted legal action, and sustained advocacy
Protecting and restoring habitats
The Hudson River watershed is home to a breathtaking diversity of life. Protecting and restoring our aquatic habitats is critical for their renewal and for a healthy future for all life in the watershed