Watershed Management

Healthy streams and rivers require a healthy landscape. A watershed is the land area that drains to a common outlet, such as a stream, wetland, lake, or estuary. More than 30 years after the passage of the Clean Water Act, more than half of the streams feeding into the Hudson River watershed have degraded water-quality from pollution and urban/suburban runoff. Clearwater works closely with civic leaders, citizenry, and state and federal regulatory agencies to help protect and manage the Hudson River Watershed by addressing both the point and nonpoint sources of pollution. Some of our specific watershed-scale issues include the twenty-year battle to remove PCB contamination from the Hudson River, forming a sustainable development alliance to mitigate the negative effects of development pressure, and fighting the excessive use of pesticides.