URBANWATERS

FEDERAL PARTNERSHIP

Restoring Urban Waters, Revitalizing Communities

Bronx and Harlem River Watersheds

(New York City, New York)

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Ambassador

Sara Powell (Natural Areas Conservancy)

(212)360-1480
sara.powe!l@parks.nyc.gov

Co-Leads

Donna Myers (USGS)

(703) 648-5012
dnmyers@usgs.gov
Vivian Nolan (USGS)

(703) 648-4258
VPNolan@usgs.gov
Stephen Terraciano (USGS)
(631) 736-0783 xl02
saterrac@usgs.gov

Overall Assessment of the Partnership Since the Beginning

The Bronx and Harlem River Watersheds have been part of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership
(UWFP) since 2011, when the first seven pilot locations were selected. Led by the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS), this location faces the challenge of helping overburdened and underserved
communities reconnect to their waterways, benefit recreationally and economically, and achieve
their own waterfront vision. This vision includes new and improved open space, access to
waterfront recreational opportunities, improved water quality, and promotion of economic
development.

The Bronx and Harlem River Watersheds were once varied ecosystems covered by forests,
meadows, and marshes, and, despite numerous challenges, still hold enormous potential to
provide natural beauty, wildlife habitat, and recreational amenities, all of which improve the

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quality of life of local residents. Today, however, much of the natural habitat in the area has been
displaced by urban development, which has contributed to pollution and contamination of the
watersheds. The South Bronx is home to the most economically disadvantaged congressional
district in the country, and nearly all of the neighborhoods in both watersheds within the Bronx
are recognized as environmental justice communities by the New York Department of
Environmental Conservation. The Harlem River Watershed is also very densely populated and
highly built-up, with very little green or open space along the river. The community is cut off from
the Harlem River by a network of highways, streets, and railroads, and the only access points are
difficult to find, noisy, and unsafe. Approximately 90% of the shoreline is constrained by
highways, rail lines, and industrial land uses, all of which have significantly reduced access to the
river for recreational use.

Members of the Partnership

The partnership includes federal agencies and non-federal organizations. The Bronx River
Alliance and the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality serve as lead community partners.

Federal Government

•	Department of the Interior, U.S.
Geological Survey

•	Department of the Interior, Fish and
Wildlife Service

•	Department of the Interior, National
Park Service

•	Environmental Protection Agency

•	Federal Emergency Management
Agency

•	Department of Housing and Urban
Development

•	National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration

•	U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

•	Department of Agriculture, U.S.
Forest Service

•	Department of Transportation

•	Representative Jose Enrique
Serrano's Office

State Government

•	Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's

Office

•	New York State Parks, Recreation
and Historic Preservation

•	New York State Department of
Transportation

Local Government

•	New York City Department of Parks
and Recreation

•	New York City Department of Design
and Construction

•	New York City Economic
Development Corporation

•	Bronx Borough President's Office

•	New York City Department of
Environmental Protection

•	New York City Department of
Transportation

Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)

•	Bronx Council for Environmental
Quality

•	Harlem River Working Group

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•	Bronx River Alliance

•	NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary
Program/Hudson River Foundation

•	Friends of Van Cortlandt Park

•	Riverkeeper

•	Amtrak

•	Rocking the Boat

•	Urban Assembly New York Harbor
School

•	Waterfront Alliance

Nature of the Partnership

Participation in the partnership is voluntary. Partners support the UWFP by providing knowledge,
technical assistance, financial assistance, and connections to other potential partners. To date,
the partnership has held several meetings in New York to reconnect the various members and
discuss major issues and potential solutions. A significant portion of the partnership's work has been
achieved through individual efforts. With an Ambassador now in place, the partnership location will
provide more focused activities, greater communication, increased collaborative efforts, and an
expanded partnership to achieve the mission and vision of the UWFP.

Major Accomplishments Since the Beginning of the
Partnership

Bronx River Shoreline Restoration Multiple sites along the Bronx River have been restored,
including Hunts Point Landing, Rodman's Neck Coastal Forest, and the Soundview Park Aquatic
Ecosystem. Hunts Point converted old, abandoned space into a public park, and 10,000 trees
were planted in Rodman's Neck Coastal Forest. Oyster reef restoration was completed in 2012 at
the Soundview Park Aquatic Ecosystem.

Bronx River Designated a National Water Trail Coordinated efforts have improved the safety of
the Bronx River for recreational activities such as canoeing and kayaking. The Bronx River Alliance
(Alliance), with assistance from the National Park Service (NPS), developed a water trail for
human-powered boating that incorporates best management practices and design features that
are an example for urban waterways. The Secretary of the Interior and the NPS Director
recognized these efforts and designated the Bronx River Blueway one of the first National Water
Trails in 2012. The Alliance also received a $25,000 Challenge Cost Share grant from NPS to
expand their public canoe and kayak programming targeted at youth and their families.

Youth and Community Engagement Since 2011, USGS has been participating in the annual
Harlem River Festival, an event which has grown into a week-long, borough-wide outreach effort
that brings local communities together through educational and on-water recreational activities.

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USGS and the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality (BCEQ) work with faculty and students
from minority-serving institutions (such as Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College, Lehman
College [City University of New York] (CUNY), and Borough of Manhattan Community College) to
help collect and interpret water-quality information and sustain green infrastructure projects.

Community Service The Bronx Helpers Youth Community Service and Leadership Development
Program provided 60 teenagers the chance to learn about environmental issues and participate
in related projects. The intensive summer program, organized by New Settlement Apartments
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, gave youth a chance to develop leadership
skills and participate in civic engagement and community service.

Oyster Restoration in the Bronx River The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), New York City
(NYC) Parks Natural Resource Group, NY/NJ Baykeeper, Hudson River Foundation, Urban
Assembly New York Harbor School, Rocking the Boat, and other local agencies constructed an
oyster reef to provide a better place for oysters to live in the Bronx River.

Bronx Zoo Kiosk With support from NOAA, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and NYC Parks,
USGS constructed a kiosk at the Bronx Zoo in 2013, complemented with PowerPoint and a
scrolling display of current river conditions. River flows are available in near real-time through a
USGS website.

Harlem River Water Quality Assessment USGS contributed $50,000 in FY2012 to support the
Harlem River Working Group's Watershed Protection and Partnership Action Plan. In cooperation
with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), USGS led the effort
to compile over 100 years of water-quality data and provide analysis of the current water-quality
status and condition of the Harlem River Watershed. The associated report can be found at the
USGS Publication Warehouse: https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20165044.

Innovative Pop-up Wetland Runoff Treatment Project In 2013, BCEQ, the Harlem River Working
Group, and NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, with funding from a Wildlife Conservation
Society-NOAA grant and Representative Jose Serrano, installed a pop-up wetland to capture
stormwater runoff from an elevated roadway. With support from several USGS Water Science
Centers, the quality and quantity of stormwater from adjacent roadways was assessed. Sampling
results are intended to support construction of passive riverfront park features meant to treat
stormwater before it enters the Harlem River. Other partners included: DLANDstudio; the Gaia
Institute; Highbridge Community Life Center; Sustainable South Bronx; the NPS Rivers, Trails, and

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Conservation Assistance Program; NYC Parks Greenbelt Native Plant Center; and New York
Restoration Project.

Closing the Greenway Gap - Construction of a Bronx River Pedestrian Bridge In 2012,
Representative Serrano asked the Secretary of the Interior if the U.S. Department of the Interior
(DOI) would help jumpstart discussions between NYC, New York state, and Amtrak to help
complete the final section of the Bronx River Greenway. DOI convened meetings and facilitated
discussions among the New York State Department of Transportation, the Office of
Representative Serrano, Amtrak, NPS, and NYC Parks over a three-year period. These talks
successfully led to the resolution of legal issues. DOI was instrumental in getting a $10 million
award through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Transportation Investment Generating
Economic Recovery (TIGER) Discretionary Grant program in 2015. The TIGER award will help
construct the final link needed to safely connect South Bronx residents over Amtrak rail lines,
nine acres of improved parkland, as well as the river itself, and mark the completion of a one-
mile bike and pedestrian link in a trail system that will run for 23 miles. Partners also provided
funding for the project: Amtrak waived design review fees and air rights, the city contributed $14
million, the state provided $8.6 million, and DOI provided $4.4 million from Hurricane Sandy
funding—all as a match forthe successful $10 million TIGER proposal. With the completion of the
Greenway, Bronx residents will no longer be cut off from the river and from new parks and
playgrounds. Greenway travelers will have a safe, continuous north-south route through the
Bronx. This project will ensure better access to roughly 400,000 South Bronx residents—and
30,000 residents in the immediate vicinity.

Creating a Greenprint for the Harlem River Waterfront In 2012, the Harlem River Working
Group, the Trust for Public Land, Pratt Institute, and the Pratt Center for Community
Development led a community visioning project to create a "greenprint" for the Harlem River
Waterfront. The vision and a greenprint map are available online:
http://harlemriverworkinggroup.org/greenway/map/.

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Major Actions Planned in the Future

Harlem River Watershed Plan With funding from the New York State Department of State Local
Waterfront Revitalization Program, NYC Parks is developing a Harlem River Watershed Natural
Resources Management Plan for the Bronx. When completed in 2019, this plan will serve as a
guiding document for agencies, community groups, and other stakeholders to implement actions
that will protect and restore watershed resources. The plan will also identify priorities as a focus
for future funding, generate typical design concepts for key projects, and build on priorities
already identified through other community-based planning efforts.

A Continuous Greenway along Both Sides of the Bronx and Harlem Rivers Through America's
Great Outdoors and the UWFP, NPS and EPA are working closely with NYC and community groups
to create a new waterfront greenway along the Bronx side of the Harlem River, connecting the
river to neighborhoods.

Flood Remediation Plans USGS will work with the New York Department of Design and
Construction to map bedrock elevations in the Bronx and the rest of NYC to inform green
infrastructure design.

Bronx River Shoreline Restoration at Starlight Park This project, conceived as part of Hurricane
Sandy proposal restoration efforts, proposes to renaturalize armored waterfront, improve
habitat and flood storage, create new wetlands, remove contaminated soils, and enhance
stormwater management along 11 acres. The restoration project intends to reduce the
vulnerability of Bronx communities from future coastal storms and contribute to the ecological
restoration of the Bronx River.

Reducing Trash in the Bronx River In 2016, the Bronx River Alliance's "Project WASTE"
(Waterway and Street Trash Elimination) received a grant from EPA Region 2 (Trash Free Waters)
to reduce the amount of plastic trash entering the Bronx River from upstream sources. Working
with the NYC Parks Natural Resource Group and the New York Botanical Gardens, the Bronx River
Alliance will conduct floatable trash assessments at trash collection booms and at accumulation
hot spots in upstream, midstream, and downstream locations, and will analyze the data to
determine the sources of the trash. Outreach will be conducted with businesses identified as
sources to explore options for reducing disposable trash generation. The project will include
working with two Bronx and two Westchester County High Schools to educate students about
the impact of loose trash on the environment, and encourage students to generate and carry out
their own public awareness projects.

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Citizen Science & Water Quality Monitoring In 2016, Sarah Lawrence College's Center for the
Urban River at Beczak received funding from the Urban Waters Small Grants program to
implement a project to improve water quality and increase community engagement in four urban
watersheds in the Lower Hudson River region, including the Bronx River. All of the target
communities in these watersheds suffer from remnants of their industrial legacy and rapid
growth, namely combined sewer systems and lack of access to the riverfront. The project will
seek to gain a better understanding of the severity and sources of pollution, and will engage
citizen stewards in hands-on science and empower local communities to become proactive
advocates for pollution reduction.

Harlem River Water Quality Monitoring During summer 2017, USGS will provide NYC Parks with
preliminary water- and sediment-quality data to help inform the Harlem River Watershed Plan
and a future living shoreline restoration project planned for Bridge Park South/Depot Place—the
next portion of the Harlem River waterfront slated for development into public parkland.
Working with the Ambassador, NYC Parks, EPA, the Interstate Environmental Commission, and
NYCDEP, an assessment of the Depot Place water and sediment quality will be conducted by City
College of New York (CCNY Harlem Campus) student interns at USGS and with the support of the
UWFP.

Major Challenges in the Future

Reconnecting the community to the Bronx and Harlem rivers can bring economic and health
benefits. Realizing further progress on this common vision will require a significant amount of
time and effort to coordinate the work of NGOs, academia, federal agencies, state and local
agencies, and industry. The recent arrival of the Ambassador will facilitate the coordination of
this location's partner initiatives and activities, and enable sustained forward motion toward
achieving these shared goals.

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