Our Team

The Ashokan Water­shed Stream Man­age­ment Pro­gram (AWSMP) is a col­lab­o­ra­tive effort of Cor­nell Coop­er­a­tive Exten­sion of Ulster Coun­ty, Ulster Coun­ty Soil and Water Con­ser­va­tion Dis­trict, and the New York City Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Protection.

Each par­tic­i­pat­ing agency has dif­fer­ent roles and respon­si­bil­i­ties described below.

  • Cor­nell Coop­er­a­tive Exten­sion of Ulster Coun­ty (CCEUC)
  • Ulster Coun­ty Soil & Water Con­ser­va­tion Dis­trict (UCSWCD)
  • New York City Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion (DEP)

The Ulster Coun­ty Depart­ment of Envi­ron­ment works with the AWSMP under con­tract with CCEUC and sta­tions an Envi­ron­men­tal Plan­ner in the watershed.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County (CCEUC)

Building Capacity in the Ashokan Watershed

CCE coor­di­nates the activ­i­ties of the Ashokan Water­shed Stake­hold­er Coun­cil and asso­ci­at­ed Work­ing Groups, includ­ing work­ing groups focused on edu­ca­tion and out­reach, stream projects relat­ed to infra­struc­ture, stream access and recre­ation, and flood haz­ard mitigation.

Program Planning

CCE, UCSWCD, and DEP co-devel­op an Action Plan. CCE assists water­shed towns with adopt­ing Stream Man­age­ment Plans, and helps to coor­di­nate flood response. CCE works with stake­hold­er groups to man­age inva­sive species, devel­op edu­ca­tion and out­reach strate­gies, and con­duct envi­ron­men­tal research and mon­i­tor­ing. CCE par­tic­i­pates in devel­op­ing new or updat­ed Stream Man­age­ment Plans.

Education and Outreach

CCE is respon­si­ble for pro­vid­ing edu­ca­tion pro­grams, train­ings, and infor­ma­tion to stake­hold­ers. This includes pub­li­ca­tion of a newslet­ter, brochures, and fact sheets. Train­ing pro­grams are geared toward stream man­agers, con­sult­ing engi­neers, and oth­er pro­fes­sion­als. Water­shed con­fer­ences, com­mu­ni­ty events and vol­un­teer oppor­tu­ni­ties are offered annually.

Stream Management Program Implementation Fund

CCE admin­is­ters the Stream Man­age­ment Imple­men­ta­tion Fund by devel­op­ing grant guide­lines, coor­di­nat­ing grant review, dis­burs­ing funds, and pur­su­ing addi­tion­al grant oppor­tu­ni­ties to sup­ple­ment the Fund.

AWSMP Office in Shokan

CCE pro­vides gen­er­al office and admin­is­tra­tive sup­port to the program.

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County Staff

Leslie Zuck­er
Pro­gram Manager
(845) 688‑3047 (Shokan)
laz5@cornell.edu

Brent Gotsch
Water­shed Educator
(845) 688‑3047 (Shokan)
bwg37@cornell.edu

Tim Koch
Stream Educator
(845) 688‑3047 (Shokan)
tk545@cornell.edu

Matt Savat­gy
Water­shed Youth Educator
(845) 657‑7383 (Onte­o­ra School District)
mjs593@cornell.edu

Matt Helf­frich
Water­shed Youth Educator
(845) 340‑3990 (Kingston)
mdh268@cornell.edu

Aman­da Cabanillas
Tem­po­rary Water­shed Educator
(845) 688‑3047 (Shokan)
acc366@cornell.edu

Jared Buono
Exec­u­tive Director
Cor­nell Coop­er­a­tive Exten­sion (CCE) of Ulster County
(845) 340‑3990 (Kingston)
jb2559@cornell.edu

Ulster County Soil & Water Conservation District (UCSWCD)

Participation in the Ashokan Watershed Advisory Council and Working Group

UCSWCD par­tic­i­pates in most work­ing groups and takes the lead role in the High­way Manager’s Work­ing Group. UCSWCD co-devel­ops an Action Plan with CCE and DEP.

Stream Assessment and Management Plan Development

UCSWCD is respon­si­ble for diag­nos­tic assess­ment of streams and asso­ci­at­ed ripar­i­an cor­ri­dors, and devel­op­ing a GIS data­base of stream con­di­tions. UCSWCD imple­ments long-term mon­i­tor­ing of stream con­di­tions in the water­shed, par­tic­i­pates in assess­ment and con­trol of inva­sive species, and devel­ops man­age­ment strate­gies and rec­om­men­da­tions for action.

Design and Implemention of Stream BMPs

UCSWCD pro­vides in-house and con­tract­ed assess­ment and design ser­vices for the con­struc­tion of large-scale stream restora­tion projects in the water­shed (with an empha­sis on improv­ing water qual­i­ty), as well as projects designed to sta­bi­lize stream­banks and reduce hydraulic con­stric­tion from under-sized bridges or cul­verts. In addi­tion, UCSWCD pro­vides project spon­sors with per­mit and bid­ding sup­port and con­struc­tion supervision.

Catskill Streams Buffer Initiative

UCSWCD coor­di­nates the Catskill Streams Buffer Ini­tia­tive (CSBI) for the Ashokan Water­shed. The over­all goal of CSBI is to inform and assist landown­ers, both pub­lic and pri­vate, in bet­ter stew­ard­ship of their stream­side areas through pro­tec­tion, enhance­ment, man­age­ment or restoration.

Ulster County Soil and Water Conservation District Staff

Adam Doan
Exec­u­tive Director
(845) 688‑3047 (Shokan)
adam.doan@ashokanstreams.org

Bob­by Taylor
Catskill Streams Buffer Ini­tia­tive Coordinator
(845) 688‑3047 (Shokan)
bobby.taylor@ashokanstreams.org

Alli­son Lent
Stream Assess­ment Coordinator
(845) 688‑3047 (Shokan)
allison.lent@ashokanstreams.org

Tiffany Runge
Water­shed Technician
(845) 688‑3047 (Shokan)
tiffany.runge@ashokanstreams.org

Jake Wede­mey­er
Tech­ni­cal Specialist
(845) 883‑7162 (High­land)
jake.wedemeyer@ny.nacdnet.net

New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)

DEP pro­vides fund­ing, con­tract man­age­ment, and tech­ni­cal exper­tise in sci­ence-based stream man­age­ment strate­gies and prac­tice. DEP staff sci­en­tists pro­vide exper­tise on sed­i­ment man­age­ment and the asso­ci­at­ed water qual­i­ty issue of tur­bid­i­ty. DEP par­tic­i­pates in the Ashokan Water­shed Stake­hold­er Coun­cil and all work­ing group meetings.

New York City Department of Environmental Protection Staff

Dave Burns
Tem­po­rary Project Manager
(845) 340‑7852  (Kingston)
dburns@dep.nyc.gov

Eliz­a­beth Reichheld
Sec­tion Chief
Bureau of Water Supply
(845) 340‑7838  (Kingston)
ereichheld@dep.nyc.gov

Ulster County Department of Environment

Aaron Ben­nett
Envi­ron­men­tal Planner
(845) 688‑3047 (Shokan)
aben@co.ulster.ny.us

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