NEW PALTZ – The third installment of the Wallkill Water Shed Quality Alliance’s Wallkill River summit brought together a large crowd of ecological experts, scientists and naturalists to the SUNY New Paltz Campus Tuesday evening.
Well-attended session covered water quality, invasive species, seeking volunteers
The last summit explored the quality of water, invasive algae species and the prospect of having volunteers help take water samples.
There was a large amount of success; however, Water Quality Program Director
for Riverkeeper Dan Shapley said the condition of the water is still not
at the level they would hope it to be, due to old wastewater infrastructure
causing pollution, in addition to toxic algae.
Shapley said, at this point, the most pressing issue regarding the Wallkill River is funding for a two-year, $800,000 DEC Wallkill River study and the improvement of waste-water infrastructure.
As there are only days left for state budgeting of clean water projects, such as the Waste Water Act, Shapley said they are hoping to lobby for substantial funding that could provide enough resources for local water initiatives, including the Wallkill River.
“When it comes to water infrastructure, we’re not advocating for a specific number for the Wallkill, but we’re arguing for a state investment of at least $2 billion, which is what the governor has proposed statewide for funding, new funding, for water infrastructure and other clean water projects,” he said. “A portion of that, we would hope will come to benefit the Wallkill.”
Clean water advocates across county lines into Orange are taking their own measures to help the cause of revitalizing the Wallkill.
“We’re about to start a countywide climate adaptation strategy with another grant we got,” said Orange County Planning Commissioner David Church. “We’re going to look at the watersheds and what climate change impacts each of those, including the Wallkill.”
Many of the presenters and participants within the Water Shed Alliance are experts, or municipal workers; but, the reigning success of the Wallkill River Summits have been from the efforts of volunteers, offering their time to help bring their local watershed back to the way it should be.
