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United States. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Riverkeeper Intervenes in Dashville Hydroelectric Project Proceedings

Strategic Insights

— 2 min read

Riverkeeper, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, has submitted a motion to intervene in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) proceedings for the Dashville Hydroelectric Project. The project, located in Ulster County, New York, on the Wallkill River, will have significant impacts on migratory fish, water quality, and recreational access. Riverkeeper seeks to ensure that the licensing of the project includes measures to mitigate these impacts and protect the interests of its members and the community.

Key Takeaways:

  • Riverkeeper has a significant interest in ensuring that the impacts of the project on aquatic species and their habitats, water quality, and recreational access are adequately studied and mitigated.
  • The project affects migratory fish, including the Atlantic sturgeon, American shad, striped bass, river herring, and American eel, which utilize the tidal and non-tidal portions of freshwater tributaries to the Hudson River estuary.
  • Riverkeeper is particularly interested in restoring and enhancing habitat for the American eel, which is in decline over much of its range due to dams that prevent or inhibit upstream migration.
  • The project creates conditions that promote Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) on the Wallkill River, which are detrimental to aquatic ecosystems and recreation, and can present risks to human health.
  • Riverkeeper has monitored water quality in the Wallkill River since 2012 and has identified excess nutrients and fecal contamination as major threats to the river's water quality.
  • The project alters sediment transport in the Wallkill River, which impacts the downstream transport of fecal bacteria and can increase the environmental persistence of these contaminants.
  • Riverkeeper seeks to ensure that the licensing of the project includes measures to protect and expand recreational access to the Wallkill River in the vicinity of the project.

Statistics:

  • 3,400 members support Riverkeeper's work.
  • The Wallkill River has been identified as impaired by excess amounts of the nutrient phosphorus by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
  • HABs persisted in the Wallkill River for at least sixty days in 2016, with as many as thirty miles of the river negatively affected.
  • The project affects 88 miles of the Wallkill River.
  • The Hudson River estuary is home to 7.2 miles of the Wallkill River.

Sources:

  • Riverkeeper (Jan. 2020), "The Hudson River's Species are in Decline"
  • Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (2008), "Addendum II to the Fishery Management Plan for American Eel"
  • Kim et al. (2021), "Factors Affecting Harmful Algal Bloom Occurrence in a River with Regulated Hydrology"
  • New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (Sept. 11, 2024), "Final 2020/2022 NYS Section 303(d) List, Water Quality Assessment"
  • Riverkeeper (2019), "Wallkill River Community Water Quality Monitoring Results 2012-2019"
  • Bai & Lung (2005), "Modeling Sediment Impact on the Transport of Fecal Bacteria"
  • Snell and Clayton (1881), "The History of Warren and Sussex County"
  • Jaeyoung Kim et al. (2021), "Factors Affecting Harmful Algal Bloom Occurrence in a River with Regulated Hydrology"
  • Riverkeeper (September 10, 2016), "Confirmed: Wallkill River Algae Produced High Toxin Levels"

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