June 29, 2015

Contact: Leah Rae, Staff Writer

914-478-4501, Ext. 238

OSSINING, NY — Fifty years after the passage of New York’s visionary Pure Waters Bond Act, Riverkeeper is publishing a report on water quality in the Hudson River Estuary and its watershed, and calling on state leaders to re-invest in clean water.

The 2015 “How’s the Water?” report includes analysis of more than 6,000 water samples gathered since 2008 in the Hudson River Estuary by Riverkeeper, CUNY Queens College and Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory; and data gathered since 2012 by dozens of community groups and individuals in Hudson River tributaries and at New York City water access points. Inspired by a question Riverkeeper often receives from people enjoying the Hudson – “How’s the water?” – the sampling effort is the largest of its kind in the Hudson River Watershed.

Water quality has improved dramatically since the passage of New York’s Pure Waters Bond Act 50 years ago, which catalyzed both statewide investments in clean water infrastructure and the passage of the U.S. Clean Water Act. Today, many parts of the Hudson River Estuary have water quality that would meet federal safe-swimming guidelines, particularly after periods of dry weather. However, water quality improvements are needed in many areas currently used by the public for recreation, particularly in tributaries and cities.

As measured against the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended guidelines for safe swimming:

Nationwide, public beaches failed the same benchmark at a rate of 10%. Sewage discharges from combined sewers, aging sewer infrastructure and failing septics, as well as agricultural and urban runoff are all believed to be contributing to water quality problems documented in this report.

“The Hudson River, and the creeks that feed it, are our beaches. From the Wallkill River to the Sparkill Creek to the boathouses of New York City, people are rallying to the cause of cleaning up our water. On their behalf, we’re challenging elected leaders to reinvest in both clean water infrastructure, and in the enforcement of our environmental laws,” said Dan Shapley, Riverkeeper's Water Quality Program Manager.

To improve water quality, Riverkeeper has published a detailed Action Agenda, and is calling on the Governor and Legislature to act first on these two high priority items:

Riverkeeper’s “How’s the Water?” report is being mailed to elected leaders at the federal, state, county and municipal level; regulatory and non-regulatory agencies; scientists; advocacy groups; and many individuals, organizations and businesses who use the Hudson River recreationally. Each recipient is being asked to join the effort to address this problem.

The report, along with data gathered since the inception of the project up to and including samples gathered in 2015, can be found at riverkeeper.org/water-quality/testing/.

The “How’s the Water?” report analyzes the results of more than 6,000 water samples, assessed according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Recreational Water Quality Criteria. The 2015 report includes several new sections:

Riverkeeper samples for fecal contamination using Enterococcus (Entero), the only Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-recommended indicator for use in both fresh and salt waters. While Entero is not usually harmful, its presence indicates the presence of pathogens – viruses, bacteria, parasites – associated with sewage and/or other fecal contamination. This type of contamination causes as many as 3.5 million illnesses annually nationwide among recreational users of the water, according to an EPA estimate. (There is no surveillance and reporting for illnesses associated with recreational water use, so there are no estimates of illnesses resulting from recreation in the Hudson River Estuary or its tributaries.) Riverkeeper samples 74 locations in the Hudson River Estuary monthly in collaboration with CUNY Queens College and Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.

Riverkeeper also supports community science sampling projects in tributaries and along shorelines. The 2015 report details results from samples taken at 148 points between 2012 and 2014. Partners in these community projects include the New York City Water Trail Association and The River Project, the Catskill Creek Watershed Awareness Project, the Gardiner Environmental Conservation Commission, the Montgomery Conservation Advisory Council, the Quassaick Creek Watershed Alliance, the Rochester Environmental Conservation Commission, the Rosendale Commission for Conservation of the Environment, Sparkill Creek Watershed Alliance, Wawarsing Environmental Conservation Commission and many individuals, community boathouses, community groups, waterfront parks and labs.

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