Cornell
Cooperative Extension of Ulster County
(“Extension”) was
contracted by DEP to establish and facilitate a Project Advisory Council
(PAC) based on the Focus Group members and to guide the development
of this plan. The Project Advisory Council members are identified
in the preceding acknowledgements and have met eight times in less
than two years, demonstrating their high level of commitment to the
Esopus Creek and its future. 
Working
groups that focused on the topics of Aquatic Ecosystem Assessment,
Education and Outreach, Hazard Mitigation,
and Watershed Assessment also met to provide additional collaboration
among agency and citizen interests and guide the development of recommendations
found herein. We are all indebted to the participants in these groups,
who are also listed in the acknowledgements, and hope these groups
will expand and continue to meet to help implement the strategies
identified in this document.
To
best incorporate and address the interests of the community in the
management plan, Extension developed a community involvement strategy,
starting with a community assessment of stakeholder concerns. Extension
also initiated an educational program about the Upper Esopus and its
watershed to raise awareness and interest in the importance and complexity
of stream management.
Several
project contractors were hired by both DEP and Extension to assist
with completion of the physical and social assessments for the plan.
Dr. Craig Fischenich, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers –
Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) was contracted by
DEP as the principal investigator for the Upper Esopus Creek watershed
assessment. Watershed assessment work began in 2004 and continued
until late Fall of 2006. Walt Keller, retired DEC Region IV Fisheries
Manager, was hired by Extension as a consultant in spring of 2006
to complete the aquatic habitat assessment. A riparian vegetative
analysis was completed by Chastity Miller of Barry Vittor & Associates,
Inc. in 2006. Cornell University’s Human Dimensions Research
Unit (HDRU) was contracted by Extension to carry out the survey of
streamside landowners in the fall of 2006. The survey project was
headed by the HDRU leader, Tommy Brown who was the lead author of
the survey report. The information from the social and physical assessment
work formed the basis for the plan and its recommendations.
Notably,
this draft plan meets part of a federal drinking water quality mandate
for the DEP – the project funder and a major stakeholder –
and also provides the opportunity to bring together diverse stream
interests through the planning process. Under the Federal Safe Drinking
Water Act, DEP was granted a waiver from filtration by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, thus avoiding the need for a costly water filtration
facility. The waiver, renewed every five years (including 2007), is
known as the Filtration Avoidance Determination or “FAD,”
and includes a requirement that DEP develop stream management plans
in the New York City Watershed. Although the FAD focuses on drinking
water quality, the resulting Upper Esopus Creek Management Plan has
provided the opportunity to assess and prioritize broader issues such
as flooding and erosion hazards, aquatic and riparian ecosystem conditions,
angling and recreation, community education, and overall coordination
of stream management. Development of the plan also has enhanced possible
opportunities for cost sharing with DEP and local partners and provides
the opportunity to access additional outside funding sources.
