Hudson River Estuary programs in Westchester and Rockland receive state funding

The state Department of Environmental Conservation announced earlier this week about $770,000 in grants will be awarded to various projects, including some in Westchester and Rockland counties, to improve water quality around the state.

The grant money is funding 18 projects as part of the state environment department”™s Hudson River Estuary Program, which helps protect and revitalize the estuary portion of the river, which is 153 miles of the river”™s 315-mile stretch ”” from Troy to New York Harbor ”” where salt water meets fresh water.

Rockland and Westchester counties will be a part of five projects receiving funding. They are:

• $50,000 to The Nature Conservancy, which will help communities from the Federal Dam in Troy to the Piermont Marsh, south of Nyack, participate in the Hudson River Comprehensive Restoration Plan.
• Yonkers will receive $50,000 to study its stormwater system and green infrastructure strategies.
• The Hudson Valley Regional Council will get $50,000 to gather legal, regulatory and policy information including drinking water source protection, stormwater management and maintenance of streams.
• $50,000 to New Castle for gathering information that will cover strategies to remove the Upper Minkel Pond Dam and restore the natural stream channel and wetlands.
• Hastings-on-Hudson will receive $41,650 to go forward with the Hudson River Shoreline Stabilization Plan that will tackle erosion problems in the river.