1. Moving beyond planning
Implementing Stream Management Plans
through local leadership in the
Schoharie basin

2. Schoharie
SMP
East Kill Batavia Kill
SMP SMP
SWAC
SMP
Implementation
West Kill Manor Kill
SMP SMP

3. Sub-basin committees evolved to
basin-wide Advisory Committee
Schoharie Watershed
Advisory Committee

4. Two team structure
Agency Advisors
SWAC Engage appropriate local,
Local management
county, state, federal and
advisory committee
non-government agencies

5. SWAC Voting Committee Members
Towns within the Schoharie Creek basin
Hunter, Windham, Jewett, Lexington, Ashland,
Prattsville, Gilboa, Roxbury, and Conesville 9
Villages within the Schoharie Creek basin
Hunter and Tannersville 2
County Legislator 1
Appointees from three subcommittees
Highway, Education, and Recreation/Habitat 3
Locally Driven 15
Appointed representatives (2) serving two
year terms, with no term limits
Advisory Members – Local, State and Federal
Agencies and Non-Government Organizations

6. SWAC Advisory Members
New York City Department of Schoharie County Representatives
Environmental Protection Delaware County Representatives
Greene County Planning
Greene County Soil and Water
Department
Conservation District
Cornell Cooperative Extension of
US Army Corps of Engineers Greene County
Catskill Watershed Corporation
Greene County Highway
Catskill Center
NYS Department of Greene Land Trust
Transportation Mountaintop Arboretum
Non-profit foundations: Catskill
NYS Department of Mountain Foundation, Hunter
Environmental Conservation Foundation, Community of
Windham Foundation
NYS Department of Health
Trout Unlimited

7. Subcommittees
Highway Supers Outreach/Education
Habitat/Recreation

8. General Guidelines
GCSWCD and DEP staff
review project ideas,
ensure consistency with
stream management plans
– GCSWCD assign staff
person/funding category
GCSWCD and DEP
STREAM MANAGEMENT PLAN IMPLEMENTATION
coordinate with SWAC to Action Plan 2007 – 2009
draft action plan updates
and revisions – these plans
will guide the work and
schedule for Schoharie
stream management plan
implementation
Meetings open to public

9. Schoharie Basin Action Plan
Plans direct activities for SMP Implementation –
developed by SWAC
49 total items in the 2007-2009 Action Plan
Update – 5 complete, 35 in-progress, 9 not started.
Subject Areas within current Action Plan:
• Program Development
• Stormwater Projects
• Staff Training & Development Goal – integrate
• Interagency Coordination activities where
• Education & Outreach Activities there is a direct
• Planning, Assessment & Monitoring relationship to SMP
• Riparian Buffer Program implementation
• Recreation & Public Use
• Stream Restoration Projects

10. Funding Categories
GCSWCD
Staff
Education and Outreach Josh
Infrastructure/Highway Jake
Landowner Stream Assistance Joel
Stormwater management and critical Jake
area seeding
Recreation-based opportunities Michelle
Habitat Enhancements Carrie
Planning and Assessment Abbe
General Project (something not Jeff/Dave
anticipated, or doesn’t fit in another
category)

11. Landowner Stream Assistance
Erosion
Invasives Plants
Riparian Buffers
Land Stewardship

12. Infrastructure Planning
Bridges
Culverts
Road Embankments
Utility Crossings
Floodplain
Management

13. Stormwater Management/Low Impact
Ponds
Wetlands
Infiltration
Filtering Systems
Open Channels

14. Education & Outreach
Workshops
Newsletters
Public Meetings
School Programs
Presentations
Stream Clean-ups
Volunteer Plantings
AmeriCorps
sponsorship
Kiosk Series

15. Supporting local decision-makers through
coordinated workshops NYCDEP
Schoharie Co.
Planning
NYSDEC
Windham Planning
Board

16. Recreation & Habitat
Enhancement
Stream Access
Fisheries Improvement
Navigability
Habitat enhancement
Water quality protection
Brown trout fingerlings

17. Planning & Assessment
Floodplain
Management
Flood Response
Land Use/Open
Space
Recreational
Resources
Economic
Development

18. Criteria for Funding Decisions
Project is within a municipality that has adopted the
relevant SMP
Effects on stream stability and sediment transport
Water quality benefits
Public benefit to broader basin communities
Protects infrastructure
Improves habitats, general ecology or increases
recreational access
Feasibility of project, approach is consistent with
principles set forth in stream management plans

19. Increasing role of SWAC in Action Plan
Development Process
Decision-making,
setting priorities
Develop
Application
process
Review Criteria for
scoring projects
Input on
subcommittees/
serve as liaison to
SWAC
Review outreach
and reporting
material

20. First round of proposals received
August 1st
Culvert replacement – improve proper drainage, reduce
erosion, enhance habitat
Thermal refuges study to determine where cold water
refuges in Schoharie and West Kill exist to protect them
Streamside plantings and engineering services to
stabilize eroding banks
Manor Kill Environmental Study Team/Stream Mngt.
Implementation Program
Prattsville Stream Access
Stormwater retrofit for LEED project with multiple
community benefits

21. Sample Highway/Infrastructure Proposal, Ashland

22. Planning & Assessment Proposal
Thermal remote sensing
infrared image (FLIR)
~100 x 150 m
Airborne thermal remote sensing
Reflectance
converted to Converted to a
temperature GIS point
Slide complements coverage
of USGS

23. Education and Outreach Proposal
Manor Kill Environmental Study Team
Photos:
Joyce
Valenti

24. Key is integrating programs, technical assistance, & funding to
support local communities toward addressing SMP activities on
a watershed scale
Sugar Maples team
Stable riparian corridor
SWAC
Stormwater mngt.
Creekwalk, Hunter Foundation
Roadside
ditch
protection
Tour Windham Mtn. Youth
stormwater project presentations