Mohawk River Watershed

The Mohawk River Basin Program

In response to recommendations contained in the 2009 Our Waters, Our Communities, Our Future report (PDF) by the New York Ocean and Great Lakes Ecosystem Council, DEC's Mohawk River Basin program was formed, tasked with implementation of the Mohawk River Basin Action Agenda. Designed to mirror and compliment the successful Hudson River Estuary Program, the Mohawk River Basin Program fostered partnerships regionwide to manage and protect the natural resources of the river and its watershed for a sustainable future. The Mohawk River Basin Program is funded annually through the Environmental Protection Fund. These funds are provided to facilitate implementation of the Mohawk River Basin Action Agenda. The Progress Report highlights how these and other funding sources have been used.

Through the establishment of the Mohawk River Basin Program, DEC initiated a focused effort to conserve, preserve and restore the environmental quality of the Mohawk River and its watershed, while helping to manage the resources of the region for a sustainable future. The Mohawk River Basin program acts as a coordinator of basin-wide activities to achieve these goals. The success of this program requires the involvement of stakeholders and the creation of partnerships with established programs and organizations throughout the watershed.

The Mohawk River Basin Action Agenda

The Mohawk River Basin Action Agenda 2021-2026 is a five-year plan for implementing the mission of conserving, preserving, and restoring the Mohawk River and its watershed. Funded through the State's Environmental Protection Fund and administered through DEC's Mohawk River Basin Program along with collaborating stakeholders and partners, the Action Agenda promotes collaborative decision-making based on an understanding of the entire ecosystem, recognizing that the complex issues within the region cannot be fully resolved by managing certain sectors, species or pollutants on an individual basis.

The Action Agenda builds on past projects and partnerships and charts a course to implementation of the following goals and objectives:

• Water Quality - Improve water quality to reduce risks to human health, safeguard water supplies, provide safe recreational opportunities and protect aquatic habitat.
• Fisheries and Habitats - Enhance aquatic and riparian habitats, increase populations of desirable fishes, mitigate the spread of invasive species and support recreational angling opportunities.
• Flooding and Resilience - Support community planning and the sustainable use of working landscapes to enhance the resilience of Mohawk River communities and their ability to recover from extreme weather and disturbances.
• Recreation and Stewardship - Improve and increase recreation and stewardship of the Mohawk River watershed by creating and fostering partnerships and stakeholder engagement through education, outreach, and collaboration.

Partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey Water Science Center

The Mohawk River Basin Program and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) New York Water Science Center work together to study the Mohawk River. This partnership utilizes federal scientific expertise to study water quality, fish-community structure, sediment transport, invasive species movement, and ice jams to address Action Agenda goals. These cooperative projects provide communities and decision-makers with reliable data to protect drinking water and water quality, inform emergency managers, and support a healthy river ecosystem. More information on these projects can be found on the USGS StoryMap.

Mohawk River Research Initiative

In 2023, representatives from academic institutions, non-profit and private organizations, and local, state and federal governmental agencies, came together to identify research needs and data gaps with regard to the Mohawk River and its watershed. The results were compiled into the Mohawk Basin Research Initiative 2026-2036 (PDF), which provides a description of the most important areas of research needed throughout the Mohawk River and its watershed to help further the goals in the Mohawk River Basin Action Agenda. This document provides the tools necessary to best manage and focus research funding and resources in the Mohawk River Basin.

2018 Mohawk River Basin Action Agenda Progress Report

The Mohawk River Basin Action Agenda - Progress Report (PDF) highlights some of the projects and work accomplished since publication of the first Action Agenda, work that was accomplished through coordinated activities watershed-wide by numerous partner and stakeholder organizations focused on fish, wildlife and habitat conservation, water quality protection, and flood risk reduction. More importantly, this progress report set the course for renewal and updating of the Mohawk River Basin Action Agenda 2021-2026 (PDF), providing guidance for the next five years.