Happy Birthday Sparkill Watershed Alliance!

This week the Sparkill Watershed Alliance (SWA) celebrated it's 1st Anniversary with a gathering at Aleksandra Becnel's creek-side home, the perfect setting!

A handful of the Sparkill Watershed Alliance members celebrating!

(Right to Left) SWA Founder, Laurie Seeman, yours truly and Sparkill Creek

The Sparkill Creek is the only site in Riverkeeper's Water Quality Testing Study where water quality samples are collected from the land, not from the patrol boat. The surprisingly poor water quality we found in the Sparkill (it's the most frequently contaminated site in our study) inspired Rockland County clean water advocate Laurie Seeman to form a citizen alliance to learn more about the Sparkill and address its pollution problems.

Since its first meetings in the fall of 2010, the Sparkill Watershed Alliance has launched a number of initiatives to promote, protect and study this precious natural resource. They collaborate with legislators, educators, wastewater treatment plant representatives, and state and local agencies to achieve their clean water goals.

In collaboration with Riverkeeper's Water Quality Program, SWA is conducting an expanded, citizen-led water quality study on the creek. Our shared goal is to identify the source(s) of the sewage contamination in the creek and clean them up.

SWA collecting water samples from the New Jersey arm of the creek

SWA members collecting samples from a site in Tappan, NY

John explaining how the samples will be incubated and scored for sewage contamination levels

The Sparkill Watershed Alliance is documenting and studying the creek with other tools as well, working towards a Sparkill Watershed Report Card. With Butch Rosenfeld, a staff scientist with the NYC DEP, they have been collecting and studying macro-invertebrates, another indicator of water quality conditions.

Collecting samples from the creek in Tackamac Town Park this summer

Butch Rosenfeld explaining what macro-invertebrates tell us about water quality

These bugs spell good news for the upriver section of the creek

The work that the Sparkill Watershed Alliance has undertaken on behalf of the creek that threads through their communities is an inspiration to many, and a gift to the thousands of residents of the Sparkill watershed.

The Hudson River and its tributary streams, rivers and creeks need 100 more citizen groups like SWA to take ownership of their well-being. Riverkeeper is here to provide guidance and support but we need true public engagement and stewardship if we are going to achieve and maintain clean, healthy waterways in our communities.

Happy 1st Birthday Sparkill Watershed Alliance, may you enjoy many, many more!

Laurie's inspiration - clean waterways for children

Laurie and John with campers from Strawtown Studio's Summer Waterways Program

Photos courtesy of Laurie Peek and Tracy Brown

Ecology Research with the College of Mount Saint Vincent

The Riverkeeper boat serves many purposes on the Hudson River, sometimes as a watchdog and patrol vessel, sometimes as a platform for scientific research and water quality monitoring, and sometimes as an ambassador for the river.  This past weekend we were able to fill all of these roles at once while on patrol with ecology students from the College of Mount Saint Vincent.

The focus of the outing was using science to influence policy and letting data "speak for itself," which is a major theme of our water quality research.  Students measured turbidity and salinity while aboard.  The students were also able to learn how about how the river is a giant living being thing that experiences environmental changes constantly. 

We find that the ability to conduct research on the boat instead of in a lab is always a positive experience, especially on a beautiful fall day on the Hudson.


Thanks to Professor Patricia Grove and her students for a great outing!

Captain Lipscomb giving some history of the Riverkeeper boat.

Professor Patricia Grove explaining the use of a Secchi disk to measure turbidity.

Captain Lipscomb showing students what a "hot" water quality sample looks like once it's processed.  The fluorescence indicates Entero growth.

Rob Friedman explaining salinity stratification in the river.

UPDATE: Beacon Water Quality Notification 9/30

We sampled the water quality at 9 PM sharp on 9/30, just before low tide when the sewage discharge was separate and distinct from river water. We were unable to resample earlier in the day because the tide was unusually high and up to the discharge pipe.

The Enterococcus levels were again higher than our measurement limit using a 1 in 10 dilution, >24,196 Entero per 100 ml. That is greater than 397 times the EPA guideline for acceptable water quality for primary contact - 61 Enterococcus per 100/ml. The water from this discharge pipe is very contaminated with sewage.

As of 9/30, this discharge has been active since Friday the 17th (at least) when it was first reported to Riverkeeper - that's 14 days. There was no signage or police tape at the site to warn the public against contacting the contaminated water.

Sample tray from 9 PM, 9/30 sample, 1/10 dilution. All wells fluorescing indicating result >24,196 Entero per 100 ml - more than 397 times the EPA guideline for acceptable water quality (61 Entero per 100/ml).

Read more about the Beacon sewage discharge here.

Learn about our push for a Sewage Right to Know Law for New York State

See our historic water quality data for Beacon Harbor

Beacon Sewage Overflow

Raw sewage is flowing into the Beacon Harbor from a pipe at the northeastern corner of the harbor.

A member of the public called this sewage release into Riverkeeper's office on Saturday, September 17. Riverkeeper investigated the report, documented the discharge and called it into the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and authorities in the City of Beacon on Sunday, September 18.

Riverkeeper sampled in the area of the discharge on September 23. That sampling confirmed very high sewage levels (>24,196 per 100/ml, the highest our system can read). Based on this data, and the lack of public notification for this ongoing release, today we issued a press release strongly advising the public to avoid contact with the water in Beacon Harbor until the source of the spill has been fixed and testing confirms that water quality has returned to acceptable levels.

Video showing the flow rate of the spill

The blue color of the water is typical for sewage spills

The water is flowing out of this spillway and into the harbor

This is the view of the harbor with the source of the sewage overflow behind you

Debris that appears to be toilet paper clings to the branches of shrubs next to the overflowing pipe

Learn about our push for a Sewage Right to Know Law for New York State
See our historic water quality data for Beacon Harbor

Entero Sampling With the Sparkill Creek Alliance

Each month, the Riverkeeper Patrol Boat travels the entire length of the Hudson River conducting water quality sampling.  In recent years, we have begun to work with local groups to conduct sampling on tributaries that feed the Hudson.  This is a crucial endeavor in determining where exactly sewage contamination is occurring.

Sparkill Creek is a waterway that snakes through eastern Rockland County before it flows into the river via Piermont Marsh.  

Based on our sampling data, its sewage counts are consistently unacceptable.  Our collaborative presence on the Creek is crucial to its restoration.

Matt and Aleksandra sampling at Tappan Oak Tree Rd. 

Aleksandra and Matt sampling at the Jersey Arm section of the Sparkill.

Leaving the Sparkill with samples on ice.

 Captain Lipscomb explains incubation procedures for samples collected that day.

Learn more about Riverkeeper's water quality sampling program.

Photos courtesy of Laurie Peak