Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2007NY100B

Evaluation of the health of lower Esopus Creek using water quality and benthic macro invertebrates

Institute: New York
Year Established: 2007 Start Date: 2007-03-01 End Date: 2008-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $18,744 Total Non-Federal Funds: $25,057

Principal Investigators: Shaufil Chowdhury

Project Summary: The region covering the Lower Esopus Creek watershed is expected to be undergoing over development as a suburb of the greater New York metropolitan area. The higher than average rate of growth will stress the limited groundwater and surface water resources of the area. The Town of Hurley Conservation Advisory Council is very concerned about the future of this natural renewable resource, which is currently under the threat of overexploitation and anthropogenic contamination. It is necessary to have a way to test and monitor the creeks water quality and, if impacts are occurring to aquatic organisms, to determine the most likely cause of the impact. This study will provide us a comprehensive understanding of the health of the watershed in conjunction with the studies of flood potential and stream bank erosion of Lower Esopus Creek. This high quality scientific information will be useful for county and town planning purposes as it can guide water quality management as it relates to current and future development within the watershed. This information will be of value to private citizens, land use planners, and government agencies.