If it’s your first time here, you’re in good company. It’s our first time, too. We’re putting out this newsletter to let you know what we are doing and, along the way, to see if there are ways you might want to get to know us and get involved. Our hope is that, through these periodic postings, you can keep abreast of our ongoing work in the interest of thoughtful development.

Our focus is land and water. It’s hard to imagine anyone whose life and future are not affected by the use and re-use of these two crucial environmental elements, not to mention how we care for and keep them for the generations that will follow us. So, issues regarding the quality of water, the preservation of wetlands and flood plains, and maximum efficiency in planning land development all fall within our purview. Sound important? We think so, and are taking action on a number of fronts to encourage thoughtful and informed decisions concerning water and space for everyone.

The Proposed Rivendale Development

As part of our advocacy efforts, we have brought experts to appear before the Deerpark Planning Board to present valuable expertise in environmental and safety concerns relating to this project (a 21 lot subdivision directly adjacent to the Neversink River). See Advocacy section further down for more details.

Our first face-to-face in 2020 not at a planning board meeting just to meet people. We were there with our partners, the Deerpark Rural Alliance, and actually sold some of our unique and ever so tasty Forage Pizza Smoked Trout Dip.
(You may not know it but you need some of this! Email us to place an order)

WaterInsight is a NYenvironcom program that strives on several fronts to generate awareness and data on the quality of water in those parts of the Delaware and Hudson watersheds that are in New York. Here are some things we are doing: Three water quality monitors have been installed in the lower Basha Kill where it meets the Neversink river, upstream and downstream of the former USGS station in Cuddebackville, NY (Live data feed). The monitors are collecting data about the conditions in the lower Basha Kill in an area where we’ve seen numerous instances of pollution. One of the results of NYenvironcom’s partnership with Deerpark Rural Alliance, these monitoring stations are concrete examples of our information gathering services keeping stakeholders and municipalities informed and armed with facts in offering counsel and argument where land use issues are being decided.

Mapping

Did you know that there are an estimated 2.2 million acres of wetland in the state of New York but only 1 million acres currently on file with the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation? We are using drones to locate wetlands and flood plains related to projected development, recreational use, and wildlife habitat.
These efforts and those of other environmental organizations to discover, photograph, and map undocumented wetlands, provide solid data for state agencies to use in their mandate to preserve New York’s natural endowment. And what we learn we share with local governments and concerned citizens considering proposed developments.

Advocacy - Rivendale

Information gathered by our aerial mapping and on-the-ground research has revealed that a much of the area under consideration is in a flood plain or flood way, that it is intersected by a class C trout stream; is in the blast zone of two natural gas pipelines; and would face serious septic drainage difficulties — all crucial information that we have provided to local stakeholders and planners in their efforts to plot a future wisely and knowledgeably.
We brought in our experts, Kevin Draganchuk (CEA Engineering) and Paul Rubin (HydroQuest), to review the development plans and speak at the public planning board hearing held this past September. Mr. Draganchuk’s report focused on flood plains and wetlands relating to the Neversink River, a class C trout stream which flows past the proposed Rivendale site while Mr. Rubin dealt with geological concerns relating to the site’s proximity to two gas pipelines. The reports of both can be found online.
Bringing professional environmental engineers, like Kevin and Paul, into the public conversations provides policy makers, town planners, and stakeholders with a common vocabulary to discuss and shape proposed development. We hope this newsletter can expand this open forum for anyone involved to discuss land use, re-use, measured development and environmental values that serve present and future needs.