Is the Hudson Getting Cleaner?
Water quality is not what it was when Henry Hudson's Half Moon sailed up the river 400 years ago, but it has improved over the last 40 years. The Pure Waters Bond Act passed by New York State voters in 1965 and the federal Clean Water Act of 1972 were milestones in cleaning up a river that in many places was little more than an open sewer. Since then, the Hudson has become a regional asset - its waters attractive to boaters, anglers, and swimmers as well as fish, birds, and wildlife. The federal Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 protects water quality for people and animals by banning cosmetics that contain synthetic plastic microbeads that are a source of pollution and accumulate toxins. Despite these successes, threats and problems remain.
The Hudson River Estuary Program's State of the Hudson 2020 report gives an overview of how the river is doing. It discusses water quality in a broad context including the streams that flow into the estuary, the watershed that sustains the Hudson and its tributaries, the health of mainstream and watershed habitats, and the status of "signature" species like striped bass as well as creatures like salamanders and turtles.
DEC has undertaken major initiatives to achieve the clean water targets of the Hudson River Estuary Action Agenda 2021-2025. For example, more than $7 million in grants have been awarded to address long-standing issues with combined sewer overflows and disinfection of sewage treatment plant discharges in Albany and the Capital Region.
Improving Water Quality - A Watershed Approach
A watershed is the land area that drains to a common body of water, such as a river, stream, lake or estuary. The Hudson River Estuary watershed includes the watersheds of many smaller streams that flow into it (called tributaries). Land use within the watershed directly impacts the quality of water downstream.
Watershed Management
Watersheds should be considered as key geographic units when making local land use and water resource decisions. Development or disturbance to natural areas can translate into water quality impairments and biological stresses. A DEC 30 year trends report on water quality, released in 2004, estimated that over half of the streams in the Hudson River watershed have some degree of impairment and that more streams have declined in water quality than improved. According to DEC, stormwater runoff is the leading source of impairment to Hudson River tributaries. DEC estimates that there are more than 200 direct tributaries to the Hudson River.
Through the watershed planning process, community leaders, watershed advocates, scientists and local governments work together to develop watershed conservation strategies. Watershed-based planning is the foundation of the Hudson River Estuary Program's watershed initiative. It focuses on protecting healthy streams before they become degraded, while also striving to improve water quality in impacted streams.
Tools for Protecting Water Quality
- Grants for watershed planning and implementation are available from the Hudson River Estuary Program.
- Stream Buffer Protection and Restoration for Hudson River Tributaries: Our Trees for Tribs program provides free technical support and plantings to landowners interested in restoring riparian buffers (transition areas between streams and uplands). Protecting and restoring these buffer areas is vital to the health of waterways.
- Aquatic Connectivity and Barrier Removal Dams and culverts can disrupt important hydrologic processes and disconnect the aquatic habitats used by fish and other organisms. The Hudson River Estuary Program works with partners to assess and prioritize barriers for removal or mitigation to reconnect fish and wildlife habitat
