Hudson Valley Stream Conservancy will be starting demolition of the . 13 on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. The Sprout Brook Dam has been unused for decades and impedes the springtime migration of river herring from the Atlantic Ocean to the Hudson River estuary and into tributary spawning grounds such as those in the fresh waters of the Sprout Brook. The dam removal restores aquatic habitat connectivity, natural stream flow, and improves water quality.
The start of deconstruction follows a nearly five-year planning, design, engineering and permitting process with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Army Corps of Engineers, and the Town of Cortlandt. Deconstruction, along with restoration and replanting of the embankments, will take approximately two weeks.
A ribbon cutting event will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 13th, 2024 at 10:00 AM at the Sprout Lake Park in Cortlandt, NY.
This restoration project was made possible with funding by DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program through two Tributary Restoration and Resiliency Grants, the Hudson River Foundation, and Scenic Hudson. We are deeply grateful for their support and partnership. Engineering was carried out by the engineering firm Biohabitats, and demolition and habitat restoration will be conducted by RiverLogic Solutions. We are also very thankful for the support of NYS Assemblywoman Dana Levenberg; State Senator Pete Harckham; the Cortlandt Town Supervisor Richard Becker; and Cortlandt’s Director of Technical Services, Michael Preziosi and his team.
Background:
Some types of fish, including river herring (alewife and blueback herring), live in the Atlantic Ocean but swim into the Hudson River and then into fresh-water tributaries to spawn in the springtime. Dams built over the last 200 years blocked this migration, and the fish populations plummeted as a result. Many of these dams are small, and built for early grist or saw mills, then a little later for early industrial mills such as for textiles. These and other abandoned dams are a strong contributor to the loss of commercial fish stocks, such as cod and tuna, because the smaller fish that spawn in the tributaries are food for the bigger fish so important for human consumption and coastal economies.
Hudson Valley Stream Conservancy (HVSC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit located in Ossining, NY. Incorporated in 2006, our mission statement is: “To restore streams and their ecosystem services to communities and beyond”. HVSC does this in three main ways: 1) by working to improve fish migration via dam removal and culvert redesign and replacement; 2) by working to bring small community streams out of anonymity, to clean out decades of trash, and to improve their often-poor water quality by working with municipalities locating and reporting sources of sewage leaks from broken pipes and illegal storm water connections; and 3) by working to increase public access to the Hudson River.
Driving Directions:
Set GPS to 84 Sprout Brook Road, Cortlandt Manor, NY. The Sprout Brook Park has a number of ballfields along the road. Look for the lacrosse field. We’ll have signs too. Ample parking available there.
Please go to our website Http://www.streamconservancy.org for more information on our projects, grants, and people.
