FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE99-45
June 23, 1999
Contact: Geoff Ryan (718/595-5371)
Students In Watershed Conservation Corps Help River Restoration In The Catskills
Commissioner Joel A. Miele Sr., P.E., of the New York City Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) announced today that DEP has employed eight
area college students to participate in this summer's Watershed Conservation
Corps (WCC) program. Over the last two weeks, the students received training
in stream survey and assessment techniques and, for the rest of the summer,
will work hand-in-hand with resource professionals to collect and analyze
data for locally based stream management and restoration projects.
For the past two summers, DEP, in partnership with Ulster County Community
College (UCCC), has employed students with natural resource or science
backgrounds as a stream survey team. Their work has been centered in streams
that feed the City's Catskill Reservoir System the Batavia Kill and the
Schoharie Creek in Greene County, and the Stony Clove Creek and Broadstreet
Hollow in Ulster County. This summer the program has expanded. In addition
to UCCC students and their work on Catskill System streams, the Watershed
Conservation Corps includes a team, based at the State University of New York
at Oneonta (SUNY Oneonta), that will collect data in the West Branch of the
Delaware River and other streams that supply the Delaware Reservoir System.
"By cooperating with colleges in the Catskill Region on this project," said
Commissioner Miele, "we provide students with valuable experience in
assessing streams, while collecting important information on stream
conditions for use by watershed counties and communities, as well as DEP's
Stream Management and Hydrology Programs.
The implementation of stream management plans and restoration projects,
which are supported by data collected directly from Catskill streams, can
reduce the risks of future flood damage, the erosion of stream banks, and the
movement of stream channels and turbidity. Such projects can improve water
quality, preserve and rehabilitate aquatic habitats, and protect the
ecological integrity of the Catskill region's world-class trout streams.
Since the Watershed Conservation Corps was established in 1996, numerous
college students in the Catskills have received invaluable experience in the
field, working hand-in-hand with resource professionals to collect and
analyze geomorphic data. Several former Watershed Corps members are
currently employed by DEP and other resource agencies. This year four
students from UCCC and four from SUNY Oneonta are participating in the
program. Seven of them live in watershed counties, while one resides in
nearby Oneonta.