Look­ing for some­thing fun and edu­ca­tion­al to do this sum­mer? If you are, the Ashokan Water­shed Stream Man­age­ment Pro­gram (AWSMP) is plan­ning Ashokan Water­shed Week­end over sev­er­al week­ends this sum­mer start­ing July 9–10, 2020.

AWSMP is offer­ing a vari­ety of events where Ashokan Water­shed res­i­dents can learn more about the watershed’s creeks and streams, how they behave, and what we can do to ben­e­fit (and ben­e­fit from) them. These events are open and free to any res­i­dent of the Ashokan Water­shed, and you can look at this map to see if you are a water­shed resident.

July 9^th from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm is Munic­i­pal Offi­cials Day. The event is offered online and all munic­i­pal offi­cials and agency staff work­ing in the Ashokan Water­shed are encour­aged to attend. A cer­tifi­cate of train­ing for those seek­ing munic­i­pal edu­ca­tion cred­it will be offered. The first pre­sen­ta­tion is “Streams 101” which will cov­er a basic under­stand­ing of how streams func­tion. The sec­ond pre­sen­ta­tion is “Get to Know Your Stream Man­age­ment Pro­gram” which will share what the Ashokan Water­shed Stream Man­age­ment Pro­gram offers to landown­ers, munic­i­pal­i­ties, and water users.

July 10^th is Youth and Fam­i­ly Day. The first event will be the “Kanape Brook Stream Walk” from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. This is a hike along the beau­ti­ful Kanape Brook in West Shokan, NY. We will talk about stream ecol­o­gy and phys­i­cal fea­tures, and stream­side veg­e­ta­tion. We will also spend time near a large North Amer­i­can Beaver lodge com­plex and learn more about these amaz­ing mam­mals. The hike will be about 3 hours long and about 4 miles. There will be two groups, one leav­ing at 9:00am and one leav­ing at 10:00am. Each group will only have 10 par­tic­i­pants, so make sure you reg­is­ter early!

The sec­ond event of Youth and Fam­i­ly Day on July 10^th will be the pre­mier of the “Love Your Stream Video Project” from 4:00 pm‑5:00 pm.  To show how much we love our streams in the Ashokan Water­shed, AWSMP will be com­pil­ing a col­lec­tion of videos about activ­i­ties tak­ing place on the streams in our water­shed. Fam­i­lies or indi­vid­u­als are invit­ed to sub­mit a short video (no more than 5 min­utes) of you doing an activ­i­ty that you love by or on your stream. You are also invit­ed to sub­mit pho­tographs or orig­i­nal art­work. Please read the Sub­mis­sion Guide­lines. All sub­mis­sions are due by Fri­day, July 8, 2020. Con­tact Brent Gotsch at bwg37@cornell.edu to sub­mit your work. The video com­pi­la­tion will be shared at an event streamed online at 4:00pm on July 10^th. After we share the videos, AWSMP staff will be on hand to answer any ques­tions you have about stream management.

For more detailed infor­ma­tion on Ashokan Water­shed Week­end and for links to reg­is­tra­tion please vis­it AWSMP’s web­site  devot­ed to Ashokan Water­shed Week­end.

Stay tuned for more Ashokan Water­shed Week­end events this sum­mer! They will be focused on the needs of stream­side landown­ers in the Ashokan Watershed.