Case Studies
Collaborative Resilience Planning in the Adirondacks’ Ausable River Watershed
In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene and flooding damage to water infrastructure, local communities in the Ausable River watershed successfully planned, designed, and implemented river restoration in partnership with a local environmental nongovernmental organization (NGO) to increase climate resilience in the watershed.
Nearly 22% of New York State residents live in a rural area.1 Rural municipalities are often in charge of their own local water supply and water treatment, as well as floodplain and water resource management. However, these communities tend to have limited staff and financial resources, and sometimes have a limited public interest in planning for climate change and investing in climate resilience. While state and federal programs can provide assistance and technical resources, some rural communities may find these programs difficult to navigate or encounter barriers (e.g., matching funds) that preclude involvement. This case study explores the unique challenges that small municipalities face in resilience planning, and how the Ausable River Association (AsRA) helped municipalities plan for climate change impacts in the Adirondack region.
Highlights
- Watersheds that already experience negative effects from human development are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts.
- Small communities can benefit from partnering with local environmental NGO with technical and funding expertise.
Overview of the Ausable River Watershed
The Ausable River watershed in northeastern New York State covers 512 square miles and includes 94 miles of river channel and more than 70 streams and tributaries.2 Like many watersheds in New York State, the Ausable River region faces a rise in extreme weather conditions due to climate change. Changing precipitation patterns—an overall increase in precipitation and more frequent, severe storms—can lead to increased flooding. Higher average annual temperatures will increase low water events and stress local habitats and wildlife, including fish, while decreasing winter snowpack.3 Warmer average winter temperatures will affect the formation of ice in the river and increase the risk of ice jams that can damage roads, bridges, and other infrastructure.
Healthy stream systems can handle many of the challenges of climate change. They are naturally resilient and can adapt. However, where streams have lost access to floodplains, are constricted by human infrastructure, or have been heavily manipulated historically for industrial uses, the effects of climate change increase the unpredictability of flooding.
In the Ausable River, the impacts of 19th century industrial logging were profound. Deforestation led to extensive erosion, moving sediments into waterways at a scale that disrupted stream function. Small and large streams were manipulated to facilitate the movement of logs to mills. Channels were straightened and widened to better move logs, dammed to hold back water for drives and, when flows were released for transport in spring, logs moving down river damaged bed and banks, scraping soils and shifting cobble. Workers blasted large boulders and even bedrock to facilitate log drives and to break up log jams. The river could no longer function efficiently. Instream habitats were crushed and scoured. Water quality declined.
Recovery from this level of disturbance is painstakingly slow in the best circumstances. Protected now by New York State as part of the Adirondack Park, the Ausable and many rivers like it still have not fully healed making them vulnerable to further decline with the effects of climate change.
Climate Resilience Planning in the Ausable River Watershed
In 2011, Hurricane Irene caused major flooding in the towns of Jay and Keene and other communities in New York State. The total damages in the towns of Jay and Keene exceeded over $25 million, a significant amount for communities that had a combined budget of only $4 million.4 The Town of Jay’s water and sewer systems sustained damage that needed immediate repair, along with other town infrastructure. The town’s supervisor had to borrow $3 million to pay for these essential repairs, with $1 million needed to repair the town’s water system.5
AsRA,* a community-supported environmental organization with a small staff of experts, worked with the Town of Jay and other watershed communities to plan and implement natural stream restoration to adapt and build climate resilience. AsRA promotes facilitated adaptation, which uses natural stream restoration tools to rebuild the stream’s functions, stabilize collapsing banks, and restore natural floodplains to make the river more resilient to future climate impacts. AsRA also works with local, state, and federal agencies and other nonprofits to promote climate-friendly infrastructure, such as culverts sized to manage stream flows with room to spare. AsRA works with The Nature Conservancy and private landowners to replace undersized culvert pipes and widening bridges over brook trout streams.6 These culvert projects protect critical road infrastructure and require less maintenance, while allowing fish and other animals to freely pass under roadways and reconnecting miles of upstream habitat.
In response to Hurricane Irene, the New York Rising Community Reconstruction Plan provided the towns of Keene and Jay with state funding for community resilience projects. The Town of Jay chose to use leftover funds from a dam removal as seed money for the East Branch Restoration Plan—a combined effort by the town, AsRA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery, and private engineering and design firms to restore the natural, self-sustaining form and function of key sections of the Ausable River’s East Branch.7 This plan identifies 13 restoration sites in the Town of Jay.
In 2023, AsRA completed its second priority natural stream restoration project on the East Branch of the Ausable River in the hamlet of Upper Jay, Town of Jay. Project Area 2, as the site is known, involved intensive field surveys and modeling to design, engineer, permit, and repair over 3000 linear feet of river corridor—bed, banks, and floodplain. The project’s goals include protecting nearby infrastructure devastated in past flood and ice jam events. A similar design was used downstream at Project Area 3.8
Small municipalities face myriad challenges in implementing climate resilience projects. In addition to limited staff and lack of specialized expertise, they may struggle to access climate adaptation and resilience funding from government agencies, or not be aware of such funding opportunities. Towns may need assistance from a local NGO partner who can handle bureaucratic hurdles and solicit additional funds from private foundations or other resources to implement a project. An NGO can also evaluate whether an infrastructure project incorporates a nature-based approach that ensures long-term sustainability, or whether the project relies on conventional engineering that will not hold up well in the face of expected climate impacts. With the support of the towns of Jay and Keene, AsRa raised funds for Project Area 2. A New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Water Quality Improvement Project grant written by AsRA with support from the Town of Keene anchored the project. USFWS funds of $75,000 were dedicated to the project through a standing federal agreement between AsRA and the USFWS Fish Passage Program. AsRA won a $175,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through an agreement to New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission in partnership with the Lake Champlain Basin Program. Approximately $200,000 in funds from a federal congressional earmark, leveraged by AsRA in 2022 and administered by the Natural Resource Conservation Service, were also allocated to the project. Additional private donations to AsRA from supporters filled gaps in funding.9
The East Branch Restoration Plan is AsRA’s biggest project to date. Restoring the river makes natural flooding more predictable, allows for better control of ice jamming, and brings a better sense of security to the community. Inspired by the East Branch Restoration Plan’s initial success, AsRA is now working with other towns in the Ausable watershed such as Keene, Wilmington, and North Elba to develop and implement restoration plans for their sections of the Ausable River.
AsRA has successfully promoted cost-effective stream restoration that protects infrastructure, provides nature-based flood control and that can withstand the extremes of climate change. The organization’s partnerships in the Adirondack Park and will help restore the Ausable River and other rivers’ natural processes, minimize damage from storms, lower infrastructure protection and maintenance costs, and lessen the need for state and federal intervention.
*In 2024, the Ausable River Association will be renamed the Ausable Freshwater Center.
References
1. Rural Housing Coalition of New York. (2023). State of rural New York. https://ruralhousing.org/wp-content/uploads/2023-State-of-Rural-New-York-Report.pdf
2. Ausable River Association. (n.d.). The Ausable River watershed. Retrieved January 16, 2024, from https://www.ausableriver.org/watershed
3. Ausable River Association. (n.d.). Climate change. Retrieved January 16, 2024, from https://www.ausableriver.org/threats/climate-change
4. Duvall, L. (2021). Remembering Irene, 10 years later: The flooding of Styles Brook (Adirondack Almanack). https://jaynews.org/wp-content/uploads/irene-10-year-stories.pdf
5. Dedam, K. S. (2012, February 18). APA updated on damage, loss from Irene. Press-Republican. https://www.pressrepublican.com/news/local_news/apa-updated-on-damage-loss-from-irene/article_74519410-19a1-5190-8de9-ff82a5d2ca9f.html
6. Ausable River Association. (2017). Strategic plan 2017–2021. https://www.ausableriver.org/sites/default/files/asra_strategic_plan_17-21_1.19.18.pdf
7. Ausable River Association. (n.d.). Ausable River Restoration Program. Retrieved January 16, 2024, from https://www.ausableriver.org/programs/healthy-streams/ausable-river-restoration-program
8. Ausable River Association. (n.d.). East Branch Restoration Program continues with Project Area 2 in Upper Jay. Retrieved January 16, 2024, from https://www.ausableriver.org/blog/east-branch-restoration-program-continues-project-area-2-upper-jay
9. Tucker, K., Ausable River Association executive director. (2023, December 21). [Personal communication].