Stream Stewardship

WHY IS STEWARDSHIP IMPORTANT?

Given the many roles that streams play in our lives, it’s not surprising that views on what’s best for streams depends on who’s looking. Whether streamside landowners, recreational users, agency resource managers or water suppliers, we are all stewards of this extraordinary natural resource and it is essential that competing objectives be reconciled with resource management decisions. Preserving the beauty and pleasure provided by these mountain streams is as important as protecting the multiple environmental functions that streams perform. Coordinated stream management ensures a comprehensive approach that identifies and integrates various goals – from property conservation to the protection of water quality, wildlife habitat and scenic views.

We have split stewardship actions and suggestions into three different areas as they relate to the stream. Work that affects the stream bed and its wetted banks is described more fully on the instream page. The streamside page refers to actions that take place on stream banks to upland areas. And the watershed community page describes more general activities throughout the stream’s watershed that may not be related to a specific place on the stream.

Instream

Streamside – Because the streamside area, or riparian buffer, is where you can have the greatest beneficial impact on Catskill streams, we have split it further into three main categories: riparian buffers, invasive species and floodplains.

Riparian Buffers

Invasive Species

Floodplains

Watershed Community