Review of the New York City Watershed Protection Program (2020) / Chapter Skim
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10 Ecosystem Protection and Management Programs
10 Ecosystem Protection and Management Programs
Pages 261-292
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From page 261... ...
watershed, followed by the Wetlands Program, the Terrestrial and Aquatic Invasive Species programs, and the Aquatic Ecology Program. The forests of the Catskills, which cover from 70 to 90 percent of the land in the six WOH reservoir watersheds, are the solar-powered living filter of New York City's water.
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From page 262... ...
Ashokan 59 30 89 Schoharie 28 56 84 Cannonsville 16 56 72 Neversink 57 36 93 Pepacton 27 57 84 Rondout 45 43 88 NOTE: The general threshold for undesirable streamflow and water quality changes is 70 to 80 percent forest land (NRC, 2008)
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From page 263... ...
The three major forest ownership classes -- state, city, and private land -- are discussed, in that order, below. New York State Forest Land Management of the Catskill Forest Preserve is the responsibility of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC)
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From page 264... ...
New York City Forest Land The NYC DEP Natural Resources staff administers the NYC Watershed Forest Management Program (established in 2001) , with responsibility for the management and stewardship of City-owned land in coordination with other working groups in the Watershed Protection Program (e.g., the Stream Management Program)
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. Since the primary objective of watershed forest management is to maintain or enhance streamflow regimes and water quality, the underlying science referenced by NYC DEP would benefit from being updated.
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From page 266... ...
contains a brief summary with some additional information about the NYC WFP. It reiterates the overall management goal of "promoting forest vigor, resistance, and resiliency to protect and enhance water quality." A silvicultural treatment recommendation from the USDA Forest Service plan of 40,000 acres between 2012 and 2021 is cited in this report (~4,400 acres/year)
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From page 267... ...
As a consequence, influencing the decisions and actions of thousands of private forest landowners in ways that respect their property rights and financial prerogatives while protecting water quality and other ecosystem services is the central challenge of watershed forest protection and management in the northeastern United States, and more particularly in the Catskill watersheds. This challenge is most evident when the short-term interests of landowners and forest products companies can adversely affect water quality and ecological integrity.
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From page 268... ...
In consequence, they are also the most interested in opportunities for cost-sharing, technical support, and continuing education delivered by entities such as the NYC WFP. Watershed Forestry Program The central challenges addressed by the WFP are maintaining water quality while helping private forest landowners to generate sufficient income to counteract development pressure.
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From page 269... ...
They include: • Traditional face-to-face and 21st century web-based extension and education programs,7 • State agency programs for private forest landowners,8 • The American Tree Farm System,9 • BMP implementation and effectiveness monitoring programs,10 and • Federally funded forest conservation and stewardship programs and social and economic viability pro grams.11 The adaptive management philosophy and operational methods of the WFP are focused on the protection of water quality from the short-term effects of active forest management (i.e., logging, forest roads and trails, all-terrain-vehicle access, etc.) and through the long-term conservation of forests as a preferred land cover and land use.
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From page 270... ...
The WFP relies upon a voluntary approach coupled with modest financial incentives to prevent off-site and downstream impacts. WFP watershed foresters work one-on-one with loggers to avoid or mitigate the water quality impacts associated with logging -- specifically, soil disturbance and overland flow that carries sediment and nutrients to streams.
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From page 271... ...
. The image classification process was applied to all private land in the WOH portion of the NYC water supply system (Figure 10-3)
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From page 272... ...
Conservation of wetland habitat and biodiversity can help to protect and improve water quality. Wetlands provide important ecosystem goods and services such as natural filtration of sediments and biogeochemical removal of nutrients (Bobbink et al., 2006; EPA, 2015; Mitsch and Gosselink, 2015; NRC, 1995)
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From page 273... ...
. Field delineations conducted as part of wetland monitoring and forest management programs revealed that the NWI data underestimate the extent of wetlands in the NYC watershed -- especially those that are small, transiently saturated, and/or under forest canopy (NYC DEP, 2015, 2018b)
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in a set of reference wetlands within its water supply watersheds (Figure 10-4)
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The NYC DEP uses the geospatial mapping efforts described above to review the proposed activities and evaluate potential water quality impacts (NYC DEP, 2018b)
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, striving to protect water quality, ecosystems, and infrastructure. The invasive species management strategy is implemented through an important statewide and regional collaborative network (Figure 10-5)
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Early detection and rapid response are the methods by which new infestations of an invasive species to an area are identified, contained, and potentially eradicated quickly to minimize the cost of control and impacts to water quality, the envi ronment, human health and the economy. These efforts can be implemented at a variety of scales and require regional cooperation to make them most effective.
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NYC DEP selects invasive species manage ment projects judiciously with attention to available resources. Aside from rapid responses to early detections, other criteria considered are the impacts to water quality, the threat from the invasive species to the successful outcome of other NYC DEP land management projects, and whether those management actions threaten to increase the impacts of invasive species to the surrounding area.
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From page 279... ...
. Figure 10-6 shows an arrival time line of important terrestrial invasive species that have affected the northeastern forests and the NYC watersheds, including outbreaks of non-native plants, insects, and pathogens (NYC DEP, 2008; Rustad et al., 2012)
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NYC has undertaken several recent horticultural projects on invasive species management, including control of Japanese barberry and other invasive plants in advance of timber harvesting operations, removal of silver vine in EOH basins, experimental biocontrol to reduce impacts of hemlock woolly adelgid and Japanese knotweed in WOH basins, and control of purple loosestrife and common reed at several wetland mitigation sites. An invasive insect that has been an ongoing concern is the Asian long-horned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis19)
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From page 281... ...
They also affect water supply operations, such as clogging intake pipes and filtration systems. NYS DEC maintains important lists of common invasive species found statewide, including areas inhabited and control strategies recommended to ensure that they are not spread to new areas.21 For early detection of aquatic invasive species in its water supply, NYC DEP conducts ongoing monitoring and assessment of biota in its reservoirs and important tributaries, and conducted formal risk assessments of more than 50 species to develop a priority invasive species list (NYC DEP, 2019)
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https://nysipm.cornell.edu/environment/invasive-species-exotic-pests/spotted-lanternfly. © New York State Integrated Pest Management Program and Cornell University.
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In one important baseline study, NYC DEP contracted with the State University of New York at Oneonta to survey aquatic invasive species in all five terminal reservoirs and in major tributary streams draining into them (Harman et al., 2014)
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. The interaction of these two invasive species has the potential to displace native species, change food web dynamics, and water quality.
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. Invasive species might also cause indirect social effects that might influence water quality.
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NYC DEP notes that not every invasive species infestation can or should be controlled, and that control projects need to be selected judiciously and within the limits of the available resources. Some factors considered include rapid responses to early detections, ability to successfully manage the invasive outbreak, and potential impacts to water infrastructure and water quality.
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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS This review of forests and forestry in the WOH system, as well as the Wetlands Program and the Invasive Species Programs, leads to the following conclusions and recommendations. The Watershed Forestry Program should grow to increase the proportion of private forest land it influences.
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Given the potential environmental, economic, and water quality impacts of invasive species, responding to important outbreaks should be prioritized. The number of different agencies involved in the invasive species programs makes it imperative that the roles and responsibilities of these agencies be well established.
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2007. Land Use Effects on Streamflow and Water Quality in the North eastern United States.
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2014. Aquatic Invasive Species Surveys of Five New York City Water Supply Reservoirs and Molecular Sampling.
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2015. New York State Aquatic Invasive Species Management Plan.
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2011. New York City Watershed Forest Management Plan CAT-374.
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