Fishkill Creek
Fishkill Creek | ||
---|---|---|
Towns Union Vale, Beekman, East Fishkill, Fishkill | | |
Physical characteristics | ||
Source | Pray Pond | |
• coordinates | 41°40′38″N 73°40′38″W / 41.67722°N 73.67722°W | |
• elevation | 480 ft (150 m) | |
Mouth | Hudson River S of Denning Point | |
• coordinates | 41°28′55″N 73°59′8″W / 41.48194°N 73.98556°W | |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) | |
Length | 33.5 mi (53.9 km), SW | |
Basin size | 193 sq mi (500 km2) | |
Discharge | ||
• location | Beacon | |
• average | 205 cu ft/s (5.8 m3/s) | |
• minimum | 1.1 cu ft/s (0.031 m3/s)September 12, 1964 | |
• maximum | 6,970 cu ft/s (197 m3/s)August 20, 1955 | |
Discharge | ||
• location | Hopewell Junction | |
• average | 130 cu ft/s (3.7 m3/s) | |
• minimum | 25 cu ft/s (0.71 m3/s)1965 | |
• maximum | 140 cu ft/s (4.0 m3/s)1972 | |
Basin features | ||
Tributaries | ||
• left | Clove Creek | |
• right | Whortlekill Creek, Sprout Creek |
Fishkill Creek (also Fish Kill, from the Dutch vis kille, for "fish creek") is a tributary of the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, United States. At 33.5 miles (53.9 km)[2] it is the second longest stream in the county, after Wappinger Creek. It rises in the town of Union Vale and flows generally southwest to a small estuary on the Hudson just south of Beacon. Part of its 193-square-mile (500 km2) watershed[3] is in Putnam County to the south. Sprout Creek, the county's third-longest creek, is its most significant tributary. Whaley and Sylvan lakes and Beacon Reservoir, its largest, deepest and highest lakes, are among the bodies of water within the watershed.
While the creek is not impounded for use in any local water supply, it remains a focus of regional conservation efforts as a recreational and aesthetic resource, especially since the lower Fishkill watershed has been extensively developed in the last two decades. It flows through several local parks and is a popular trout stream. Industries and mills along it helped spur the settlement of the region.
Course
Clove and Sweezy brooks, themselves fed by tributaries named and unnamed draining the steep slopes on either side of the narrow upper Clove Valley in the town of
It follows Clove Valley Road (
At the park's south end it flows into Furnace Pond, named for an iron mine that was once nearby, and then into the town of Beekman. It returns to the side of County Route 9, now Clove Valley Road, and crosses under the NY 55 state highway just west of its intersection with Route 9. As that road climbs the side of a hill, Fishkill Creek crosses to its east side.[4]
It continues past Beekman's main park to the hamlet of Beekman, then is impounded into a new, unnamed lake near Green Haven Correctional Facility. Shortly afterwards it crosses into the town of East Fishkill. At the town line, south of the hamlet of Stormville, it receives the Whaley Lake outlet brook.[5] It flows westerly through more woods and swamps to where it receives the Sylvan Lake outlet brook just east of the Taconic State Parkway. After crossing underneath, it parallels the parkway south on its west side, then turns west again and makes a northward bend around another hill to once again parallel County Route 9, now Beekman Road, for a short distance, then follows the hill's base to the south. From here it meanders under the Metro-North Beacon Line south of Hopewell Junction where it receives Whortlekill Creek. It passes the Hopewell Recreation Center and then flows under NY 376.[6]
It parallels another state road, NY 82, through a wooded, undeveloped area for several miles to where it receives its longest tributary, Sprout Creek, at the Fishkill town line. It widens into a series of large pools south of Brinckerhoff, at the foot of Honness Mountain where NY 52 crosses.[6]
From here it flows more to the west-southwest, a wide stream paralleling Route 52 and the Beacon Line. It crosses under
Beyond the interstate it continues southwest alongside the base of the northern slopes of Fishkill Ridge, the northernmost end of the Hudson Highlands. It detours slightly to the north near Glenham and then resumes its southwesterly course as it flows into the city of Beacon, where it passes through the eastern section of the city in a narrow valley with the Beacon Line running along its shore. There are many rapids and waterfalls as it descends more sharply to the Hudson. Here it receives its last tributary, Dry Brook, which drains Beacon Reservoir on the ridgetop.[7]
South of the Wolcott Avenue (NY 9D) bridge, the shores become wooded again as it flows over Tioronda Dam and under the remains of Tioronda Bridge. Below here the creek's estuary opens up, and after being split by a small island it flows under a causeway carrying Metro-North's Hudson Line and empties into the Hudson south of Denning Point.[8]
Watershed
Fishkill Creek's 193-square-mile (500 km2) watershed is the second largest in Dutchess County after Wappinger Creek to the north. It includes almost the entire towns of Beekman and Union Vale, large portions of East Fishkill and Fishkill, sections of LaGrange and Wappinger and small areas in Pleasant Valley and Washington. The Whaley Lake basin, which also includes Little Whaley and Nuclear lakes, is in Pawling. In Putnam County the largest town represented is Philipstown, whose northwestern section (the Clove Creek watershed) drains into the Fishkill. A small portion is in Kent, with an even smaller portion in Putnam Valley marking the watershed's southernmost point.[3]
To the north is the Wappinger Creek watershed. The
The creek's valley is mostly low-lying level land, with the exception of the area above its headwaters in Union Vale. Most of its descent takes place either in its uppermost 10 miles (16 km), above Poughquag, or its lowermost 5 miles (8 km), below the village of Fishkill, both stretches of which account for 200 feet (61 m) each of its total drop. The average elevation within the watershed is 635 feet (194 m) above
There are 338 miles (544 km) of tributaries within the watershed. The longest is Sprout Creek,[9] which flows south 18.5 miles (29.8 km)[10] from Millbrook to Hopewell Junction. Within the watershed, there are also around 1,575 acres (637 ha) of ponds or lakes. The largest of these is Whaley Lake, at 252 acres (102 ha)[3] also the largest lake in the county. The next-largest lake in the watershed, Sylvan Lake, is the county's deepest.[11]
Water bodies and wetlands cover about 9.8% of the total watershed area. Forests cover 50%, the largest land use category in it. Most are concentrated in the northern, eastern and southern extremes. Residential and agricultural uses account for 21% and 10% respectively. Residential use is heaviest along the lower Sprout Creek and the lower section of Fishkill Creek from Fishkill to Beacon. Agricultural use is most common on the fringes of the more developed areas near the streams.[12]
There are many parks and
Of the municipalities predominantly within the watershed, East Fishkill is the most populous, with more than 25,000 residents as of the
Climate
Based on weather reports from the
The average annual temperature recorded over a 30-year period at the airport is 49.3 °F (9.6 °C). Monthly means range from 24.7 °F (−4.1 °C) in January to 72.4 °F (22.4 °C) in July. Average annual precipitation is 43.8 inches (1,110 mm), with minimum monthly means varying from 2.6 inches (66 mm) in February to 4.8 inches (120 mm) in May. An average of 34.5 inches (880 mm) of snow falls in the watershed each year, with January's 10.6-inch (270 mm) snowfall being the highest monthly mean. There are 6,267 annual heating degree days and 645 cooling degree days.[15]
IES has measured precipitation acidity in the area since 1984. Rainfall in the area has an average pH of 4.27, with averages falling to 4.00 in July but rising to 4.54 in November. This means the rain in Dutchess County and the watershed is ten times more acidic than the natural 5.2 reading for precipitation.[15]
River modifications
There are 13 dams along the creek. Five are located in Beacon,
Three are in Beekman and two are in Fishkill,[16] the latter built by Texaco for a research facility it ran in the area from 1931 to 2003.[20] The dams along the upper Fishkill impound the stream into old mill ponds, such as Furnace Pond in Tymor Park, just above the site of an old iron smelter, giving the pond its name.[21] The dams prevent the upstream movement of fish at all stages of the creek.[18]
The oldest extant bridge over the creek is
Wildlife
The creek and its watershed support a great diversity of species. As a fishery, it is stocked with brown trout, and has a significant brook trout population as well. The estuary supports a largemouth and smallmouth bass population.[24]
Some plant and animal species found near the creek and in its watershed are on the state list of
Geology
The creek flows through two distinct geological regions within the Highlands: the Mid-Hudson Valley and the Hudson Highlands. Both have different types of bedrock, impacting the nature of the stream and allowing for differences in aquifer development.[25]
The Mid-Hudson Valley region underlying most of Fishkill Creek consists of
In the Hudson Highlands, the stream's bedrock is primarily metamorphic
History
The
In the late 17th century, two New York City merchants,
The upper Fishkill was settled around the same time. Henry Beekman, after boundary disputes with the Rombout patentees were resolved in their favor, obtained a crown grant of his own in 1703 for the lands now in the towns of Beekman and Union Vale. In 1710 the first settlers put down roots. One of them, six years later, was Zacharias Flagler, ancestor of
During the
As
In the early 20th century the watershed was among the many considered by a state commission[32] for an expansion of the New York City water supply system, which was being strained by the city's rapid growth. The commission postulated that a reservoir near Stormville could be built for a cost of $17.4 million[33] ($590 million in contemporary dollars[34]) and provide storage capacity of 52.7 billion US gallons (199,000,000 m3).[35] The Fishkill had the advantage of being immediately to the north of the Croton River watershed in Putnam and Westchester counties already tapped by the city, so it would not be necessary to build a long aqueduct to bring water to the city from the new reservoir.[32]
"[I]ts waters can be secured more quickly than those of any other supply of equal amount" in the state, the commission wrote in its 1904 report.[32] The city ultimately decided not to use the Fishkill and instead acquired the land to build Ashokan Reservoir on Esopus Creek in Ulster County, across the Hudson.
In the later 20th century, after the industrial use of the lower watershed had declined somewhat, the area saw explosive population growth. Former farmlands were redeveloped as residential subdivisions, and southeastern Dutchess County became an exurban area of New York City. This increased runoff and other discharges into the stream.
Conservation
The main stem of the Fishkill is not used as a water supply, although some of its tributaries are, such as Beacon's Dry Brook, impounded by the city for Beacon Reservoir. Nor is it navigable due to its many dams. It has nevertheless been a focus of local conservation efforts both as a local scenic and recreational resource and as an indicator of the health of the aquifers around it.
In 1975, just as development of the lower watershed was beginning to accelerate, the United States Geological Survey closed the Hopewell Junction stream gauge. The Beacon stream gauge had already been shut down in 1967. There has thus been no consistent data on streamflow, a frequent measure of development's impact on a stream, since then. At the time of their respective closures, the Beacon station showed a slow decline in discharge, while the Hopewell Junction station showed an increase. A 1992 study predicted that if current demographic and hydrologic trends continue both the Fishkill and Sprout could expect to have an annual weeklong dry period by 2035.[36]
Recent biological and chemical testing indicates water quality has been improving in the upper watershed (above the village of Fishkill) but remains low below it, particularly in the creek within the city of Beacon, with an improvement just above the estuary.[3] There are 25 State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permits issued by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) within the watershed, four of which are on the Fishkill itself.[37] A further 64 permits have been issued for groundwater discharge.
The largest facilities to have SPDES permits on the Fishkill itself are the former
An ongoing concern is the
In 2005 the Fishkill Creek Watershed Committee, in partnership with the Dutchess County Environmental Management Council, inventoried the natural resources of the stream and watershed to produce a management plan. It focused on protecting groundwater, which many residents surveyed had expressed the greatest level of concern about. Recommendations made were to expand and maintain riparian buffer along the stream while protecting it against encroaching land use, and to find a way to balance groundwater withdrawals and discharges. It also called for research into alternatives to the use of impervious surfaces, such as asphalt, which increased runoff at the expense of groundwater.[39]
Lists
Bridges
Communities
- City of Beacon
- Town of Fishkill
- Glenham
- Village of Fishkill
- Brinckerhoff
- Town of East Fishkill
- Hopewell Junction
- Stormville
- Town of Beekman
- Poughquag
- Town of Union Vale
Dams
- Tioronda Dam
- Wolcott Avenue Dam
- New York Rubber Company Dam
- Braendly Fishkill Dam
- Glenham Dam
- Texaco Dam
- Sydeman Dam
- Greenburg Henderson Dam
- McKinney Dam
- Furnace Pond Dam
- Pray Pond Dam
There are also two unnamed dams in the town of Beekman.
Tributaries
Left
- Dry Brook
- Clove Creek
- Wiccopee Creek
- Whaley Stream
Right
See also
References
- ^ History of the Indian tribes of Hudson's River: their origin, manners and customs..., By Edward Manning Ruttenberg, page 370
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed October 3, 2011
- ^ a b c d "Fishkill Creek Information". Dutchess Watersheds. 2009. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
- ^ a b c Verbank Quadrangle — New York — Dutchess Co (Map). 1:24,000. USGS 7½ minute quads. United States Geological Survey. 1940. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
- ^ Poughquag Quadrangle — New York — Dutchess Co (Map). 1:24,000. USGS 7½ minute quads. United States Geological Survey. 1940. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
- ^ a b Hopewell Junction Quadrangle — New York — Dutchess Co (Map). 1:24,000. USGS 7½ minute quads. United States Geological Survey. 1940. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
- ^ a b Wappingers Falls Quadrangle — New York — Dutchess Co (Map). 1:24,000. USGS 7½ minute quads. United States Geological Survey. 1940. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
- ^ West Point Quadrangle — New York — Orange, Putnam and Dutchess Cos (Map). 1:24,000. USGS 7½ minute quads. United States Geological Survey. 1940. Retrieved 2010-04-18.
- ^ a b c Burns, David; Vasilakos, Lisa and Oestrike, Rick; "Fishkill Creek Natural Resources Management Plan" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-26., Dutchess County Environmental Management Council and Fishkill Creek Watershed Committee, June 2005, 2. Retrieved April 20, 2010
- ^ Management Plan, 87.
- ^ Management Plan, 22.
- ^ Management Plan, 14.
- ^ Management Plan, 67.
- ^ Management Plan, 65.
- ^ a b c Management Plan, 61.
- ^ a b Management Plan, 34.
- ^ "Historic roundhouse on Fishkill Creek". Gatehouse Realty. 1998–2010. Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
In the manufacturing days, they used water to supply power for operating equipment.
- ^ a b "Fishkill Creek Watershed Stream Walk 2004". Fishkill Creek Watershed Committee. 2004. Archived from the original on June 19, 2007. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
- ^ "Artist Lofts NY - The Lofts". Fishkill Creek Development Co. 2009. Archived from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
- ^ Environmental Protection Agency. October 20, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
- ^ "Hiking Tymor Forest". NY-NJ-CT botany online. Retrieved April 21, 2010.
- ^ Smith, Raymond (February 1976). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, Tioronda Bridge". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
- ^ Battersby, Jeffrey (February 4, 2007). "The Tioranda Bridge Succumbs". The Beacon Dispatch. Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
- ^ a b Management Plan, 61–2.
- ^ a b c Management Plan, 55–56.
- ^ Hereth, Susan. "Scenic Hudson ParkQuest: Madam Brett Park" (PDF). Scenic Hudson. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 29, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ Hooper Shelton. "Fisher County". Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 2012-05-24.
- ^ a b Skinner, Willa (May 15, 2007). "Town History". Town of Fishkill. Archived from the original on May 8, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- ^ "Our History". Beekman Historical Society. 2007. Archived from the original on May 29, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- Ottaway Community Newspapers. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
- Journal Register Company. Retrieved April 26, 2010.]
The dam, built in 1853 by Beacon business owners to control water levels through Fishkill Creek ...
[permanent dead link - ^ a b c William Hubert Burr (1904). Report of the Commission on additional water supply for the city of New York. University of Wisconsin. p. 15.
- ^ Burr, 18.
- ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
- ^ Burr, 22.
- ^ Management Plan, 15–16.
- ^ Management Plan, 25–26.
- Gannett Corporation. Archived from the originalon December 3, 2008. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
- ^ Management Plan, 115–16.