natural resources and climate resiliency in germantown...identify natural areas early in the...

Ingrid Haeckel, Andrew Meyer, and Elizabeth Murphy

NYSDEC Hudson River Estuary Program and Cornell University

Presentation to the Town of Germantown, December 7, 2013

Natural Resources and Climate Resiliency in Germantown

The Hudson River Estuary

Program

• Ensure clean water;

• Protect and restore fish and wildlife habitats;

• Provide recreation in and on the water;

• Adapt to climate change; and

• Conserve the scenic landscape.

Germantown

Entire watershed

~ 13,500 sq. mi.

Hudson River Watershed

Outline

Role of local governments

The Natural Resource Summaries

Future Climate Conditions

How you can use the Summaries

Where to go for more information

Discussion

___________________________________________

Local government has a critical role in managing water and wildlife

___________________________________________

• Comprehensive plan• Open space plan• Zoning• SEQRA • Project review•Town ordinances• Natural resource inventory• Critical environmental areas• Stormwater regulations•Climate Smart Community Pledge, Certification

How local governments manage water and wildlife

Mouth of the RoeJan kayaktrippics.us

Healthy, natural systems provide benefits to our communities:

“ecosystem services”

water quality and quantity

flood control

clean air

carbon storage

recreation

scenery

forest products

fisheries

Resilience

A small town in upstate New York

Images courtesy Dodson Associates, Ltd. And Behan Planning Associates, Inc

Buildout under current zoning


Many impacts on water and wildlife


Changes the way water moves across the landscape

More roads, roofs, and driveways mean more runoff

Loss of streamside vegetation

More stream crossings, barriers to fish, flooding risk

More road salt degrades water quality

Less wildlife habitat, more fragmentation

Limit animal migrations

More negative wildlife-human interactions

More pressure on groundwater, impact from septics

Changes habitat – promotes “weedy” species

Reduce hunting and recreation opportunities

Working

Landscapes

Cultural &

Historic

Resources

Identify important resources

Trails and

Greenways

Forests and

natural area

connections


Wetlands

& stream

corridors

Rivers and

Streams

A buildout that reduces pressure


A buildout that reduces pressure


Note: this is an idealized

cartoon. By working toward this

ideal, you can reduce pressure.

Outline






Discussion

___________________________________________

___________________________________________

Summarizes existing information gleaned

from (mostly) state data

• Descriptions• Tables• Maps• General conservation principles• References

What is a Natural Resource Summary?

Local data from Farmscape

Ecology at Hawthorne Valley

Farm

Please Note!

• Primarily for planning purposes

• Maps have limitations (e.g., scale)

• Raise questions for project review

• Will not tell you if a permit from NYSDEC

is needed

___________________________________________

• Regional Context• Major Ecological Features• Coastal and Shoreline Habitat• Streams and Watersheds• Large Forests (200+ acres)• Wetlands• Grasslands (text only)• Young Forests (text only)

What is in a Habitat Summary?

___________________________________________What is in a Habitat Summary?

Tables and Links

• Land Cover• Aquifers• Floodplains and Riparian Buffers• Waterbody Classification,

Assessments, andImpairment

• Stormwater Management• SPDES Permits and Wastewater• Aquatic Barriers

___________________________________________What is in a Water Resources Summary?

___________________________________________What is in a Water Resources Summary?

• Background information• Germantown

• Details • Tables • Maps

• References and Resources

http://www.scenichudson.org/slr/mapper

• Introduction to climate resilience

• Climate hazards in NYS

• Projections for Germantown

• Climate risks and opportunities

• How to get involved

_______________________________________What is in a Climate Summary?


Outline






Discussion

___________________________________________

Plan for future, not the past

Hazards

• Increasing temperatures

• Rising sea level

• Changing precipitation patterns

Climate hazards and risks that could

impact Germantown___________________________________________

Risks

Heat waves

Flooding

Short term drought

Hazard #1: Increasing temperatures

Since 1970:

• Global annual average temperature up 1°F

• US annual average temperature up 1.8°F

• New York annual average temperature up 2°F

• New York winter average temperature up 5°F

Projections: Increasing temperatures

NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

Hazard #2: Changing precipitation

patterns

• More variability and volatility

• 74% Increase in heavy downpours

between 1950-1979 and 1980-2009

NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

Hazard #3: Sea level rise

Historic: 15” in NY Harbor in the past 150 years

Climate risks: how hazards affect our

communities

Heat waves

Short-term drought

Flooding

Opportunity: become climate resilient

Outline






Discussion

___________________________________________

Area of

concern

What is the

watershed

context?

Species and habitats of

concern?

comely shiner

shad

http://fish.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Cyprinidae/comelyshiner.html

http://fish.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Cyprinidae/comelyshiner.html

Large

forests that

could

remain

connected?

Wetlands

present?

Local water

quality?

Compatible

with protection

of our

groundwater?

More detailed

information?

Sea Level Rise Mapper


Future shoreline

and floodplains?


Important habitats?

tidal wetlands and forest connection

What did we learn?___________________________________________

Important habitats?


Good quality streams? RoeJan, tribs and mouth

maintain its quality

What did we learn?___________________________________________

Important habitats?


Good quality streams? RoeJan, tribs and mouth, maintain its quality

What did we learn?___________________________________________

Aquifer concerns?

compatible land uses, NY Rural Water Association

Important habitats?


Sea level rise impacts?

plan for a 6 foot rise along the Hudson

Aquifer concerns?

compatible land uses, NY Rural Water Association

Good quality streams? RoeJan, tribs and mouth maintain its quality

What did we learn?___________________________________________

___________________________________________

• Comprehensive Plan• Open Space Plan• Zoning• Town ordinances• Natural Resource Inventory• SEQRA

• Environmental Assessment Forms• Critical Environmental Areas

• Conservation Advisory Councils• Project review• Use future climate conditions for town planning

How can a town use the Summaries?

SEQRA Environmental Assessment Forms

http://www.dec.ny.gov/eafmapper/

Online Workbook

Critical Environmental Areas

A specific geographic area designated by a state or local agency because it has exceptional or unique environmental or cultural characteristics valued by the community.

Hogback Hill CEA, Hyde Park

In Rosendale, the Conservation Advisory Council prepared a Natural Resource Inventory

In Rhinebeck, the Conservation Advisory Council helps the Planning Board

Recommended Conservation Guidelines

Identify natural areas early in the planning process.

Avoid and minimize disturbance to natural areas.

Preserve links between natural areas with broad connections.

Direct development toward altered or least sensitive areas.

Preserve farmland potential and working forests.

From Hudsonia, Biodiversity Assessment Manual

Outline






Discussion

___________________________________________

___________________________________________Where can I get more information?

• Printed versions• CDs• Town website


Tables and Links

116 CSC

Communities

in NYS

Become a Climate Smart Community


Climate Smart Communities: Examples of

Certification Actions

• Create an internal “green team”

• Incentivize employee alternative commute

• Establish a residential energy efficiency financing program

• Conduct a climate vulnerability assessment

• Promote residential flood prevention strategies


Climate resiliency: next steps

• Become a Climate Smart Community

http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/53013.html

• Sign up for our Climate Resiliency in the

Hudson River Estuary Newsletter

http://goo.gl/GYvVs2


http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/53013.html

http://goo.gl/GYvVs2

Ingrid Haeckel

Conservation & Land Use Specialist [email protected]

Andrew Meyer

Shoreline Conservation Specialist [email protected]

Libby Murphy

Climate Specialist [email protected]

Helping people enjoy, protect, and revitalize the

Hudson River Estuary and its Valley

Questions?

___________________________________________Interesting FEP Finds in Germantown

field milkwort

Lasius murphyii

mocha emerald

Kyle Bradford

Conrad Vispo

Conrad Vispo

SEQR(State Environmental Quality Review)

&

Biodiversity Conservation


Short Environmental Assessment Form

Part 1

13a. Does any portion of the site of the proposed

action, or lands adjoining the proposed action,

contain wetlands or other waterbodies regulated

by a federal, state or local agency?



Part 1

13b. Would the proposed action physically alter, or

encroach into, any existing wetland or waterbody?



Part 1

15. Does the site of the proposed action

contain any species of animal, or associated

habitats, listed

by the State or Federal government as

threatened or endangered?



Part 1

17. Will the proposed action create storm

water discharge, either from point or non-

point sources?

a. Will storm water discharges flow to

adjacent properties?



Part 2

4. Will the proposed action have an impact

on the environmental characteristics that

caused the establishment of a Critical

Environmental Area (CEA)?



Part 2

9. Will the proposed action result in an

adverse change to natural resources (e.g.,

wetlands, waterbodies, groundwater, air

quality, flora and fauna)?



Part 2

10. Will the proposed action result in an

increase in the potential for erosion,

flooding, or drainage problems?



Part 2

11. Will the proposed action create a hazard

to environmental resources or human

health?

natural resources and climate resiliency in germantown...identify natural areas early in the...

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