Goals & Targets For The Hudson River Estuary
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The heart of the Hudson River Estuary Program is the Hudson River Estuary Action Plan. Its goals and targets are intended to protect and conserve the estuary's natural resources and ecosystem health, clean up pollution and other impairments, and promote public use and enjoyment of the river. Since its release in May 1996, the Action Plan has been the blueprint for New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's [DEC] management of the estuary. As the Hudson River Estuary Program has evolved, the Action Plan has been updated in 1998, 2001 and again in 2005. The 2007 update to the Action Agenda 2005-2009 is the latest refinement of these commitments, carrying their implementation on through 2009.
Protecting and Conserving Natural Resources and Ecosystem Health
The Hudson's abundant natural resources benefit Hudson Valley communities, New York State, and the entire North Atlantic coast environment. The estuary contains important spawning and nursery grounds for commercially valuable fish and shellfish such as striped bass, American shad, Atlantic sturgeon, and blue crab. Its tidal wetlands and beds of submerged aquatic vegetation are essential links in a complex web of life that extends beyond the river's mouth. Along the Hudson are numerous sites where rare plant and animal species or natural communities occur. The river offers important resting and feeding areas for migratory birds. Its open spaces and scenic vistas nourish our lives and spirits as well.
Action Agenda goals and targets address the protection and conservation of these resources and the ecosystem in which they exist. Fish populations must be monitored on a long term basis, and managers need basic biological information about important species. Scientists are working on biocriteria that will indicate how well the estuarine ecosystem is functioning. Underwater habitats, beds of submerged aquatic vegetation, and tidal wetlands critical to the ecosystem are being surveyed and inventoried. Researchers hope to evaluate the ecological benefits provided by habitats in specific locations and, where degraded, restore their ability to contribute those benefits. Naturalists are inventorying the biodiversity of estuary shorelands and preparing an uplands biodiversity conservation plan, using data from the New York State Amphibian and Reptile Atlas project and other similar initiatives. The DEC is supporting municipalities and not-for-profit organizations in local efforts to monitor and protect water quality, biodiversity, habitat, and scenic resources. Critical to these initiatives are the Estuary Program's commitments to acquire key open space lands and to better coordinate management of lands already owned by the state.
Promoting Use and Enjoyment of the River
A number of Action AgendaThe Action Agenda emphasizes protection and conservation of the Hudson ecosystem, but also encourages people to enjoy and benefit from estuarine resources. The Hudson serves one of the most densely populated areas of the country, and nearly one half of New York State's population lives within the counties bordering the estuary. People rely on the estuary for water supply, commercial and sport fishing, boating, recreation, shipping, and waste disposal. A restored, healthy Hudson is an economic boon, fostering increased real estate values and waterfront revitalization. Tourism, a mainstay of the region's economy, also benefits from cleanup efforts. However, careful stewardship of the estuary's natural resources are necessary to avoid killing the goose that lays these golden eggs. goals and targets focus specifically on human use and enjoyment of the estuary. An increasingly valuable sport fishery has both recreational and economic benefits; it must be managed for sustainability. A few communities lack access to the river. The Action Agenda proposes to establish a regional system of access points and linkages so that every community along the Hudson has at least one new or upgraded access point to the river for fishing, boating, swimming, hunting, hiking, education, or river-watching. Understanding of the ecosystem is fostered through community-based interpretive facilities and programs, development of a regional interpretive plan, and continued publication of the Hudson River Almanac. Through this general education effort and programs targeted at specific user groups (boaters, anglers, etc.), the Agenda aims to promote responsible use and stewardship of the estuary.
Cleaning Up Pollution and Other Impairments
The Hudson was once so polluted that state documents called it an open sewer. Today it is celebrated as an American Heritage River, in part due to the success of cleanup efforts over the last three decades. But, without continued, vigilant environmental protection, economic expansion and population growth could lead to deteriorating water quality, habitat destruction, and negative impacts on key species. In addition, an unfortunate legacy of past contamination still impairs the ecosystem and limits the availability of important resources.
The Action Agenda addresses these concerns. As part of a coordinated approach to waterfront revitalization in urban areas, the Agenda calls for cleanup and restoration of contaminated sites and adoption of effective pollution control measures where ongoing operations carry the risk of future contamination problems. Tracking down the sources of chemical contaminants and reducing them at the source will facilitate navigational dredging and minimize uptake of these chemicals in the food web. Control of non-point discharges is a priority; this includes storm water runoff and the combined sewer overflows that may result. A goal of the Action Agenda is to ensure that the Hudson will be swimmable from its source high in the Adirondack Mountains all the way to New York City. Finally, funding must be put in place to support long-term monitoring, establish a scientific basis for management decisions, and maintain core Hudson River programs including the Hudson River Fisheries Unit and Anadromous Fisheries Section, the Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Hudson River Estuary Program, and the Marine Program in DEC's Region 2.
For More Information
- The Estuary Program's Progress Reports Page provides more details about accomplishments of the Hudson River Estuary Program and its partners in meeting the objectives the Hudson River Estuary Action Plan.
- The latest refinement of the Hudson River Estuary Action Plan is the 2007 update of the Action Agenda 2005-2009.
- The 2001 Hudson River Estuary Action Plan includes detailed background information about the issue of concern in the Hudson River Estuary.
Hard copies of the 2001 Hudson River Estuary Action Plan and the Action Agenda can be obtained from:
The Hudson River Estuary Program
NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Region 3
21 South Putt Corners Road
New Paltz, New York 12561
phone: (845) 256-3016, fax: (845) 255-3649,
or e-mail: hrep@gw.dec.state.ny.us
