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FIVE MUNICIPALITIES ADOPT OVERLAY DISTRICT TO PROTECT WATER RESOURCES, CORTLANDT, CROTON, AMONG THEM
In 2024, capping years of collaboration, five municipalities in Westchester County adopted watershed protection overlay districts in the Indian Brook-Croton Gorge watershed, part of the larger Croton River watershed. To address shared concerns about their communities’ water resources, the towns of Cortlandt, New Castle, Ossining, and the villages of Croton-on-Hudson and Ossining adopted similar policies to regulate wellhead protection areas and buffers for wetlands and waterbodies, and prohibit certain high-risk uses in the vicinity of water resources.
The collective action of these towns and villages helps protect drinking water for their communities as well as supports habitats in streams, wetlands, and the Hudson River. Indian Brook flows into the Hudson River at Croton Bay, one of the largest shallow bays of the lower Hudson. The mouth of the Croton River is an important resting, foraging, and nursery area for migratory fish. As outlined in the Croton-to-Highlands Biodiversity Plan (Miller and Klemens 2004), the protection of biodiversity contributes to improving and preserving water quality, and benefits from this kind of local, proactive action.
The five municipalities have been working together for more than twenty years, first developing an action plan for the watershed. The study and drafting of the overlay district were funded in part by a grant from the NYS Environmental Protection Fund, awarded by DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program. Officials from the five towns worked with staff from Westchester County and the Estuary Program as well as planning consultants to develop the overlay district.
Curious to learn more? This project was recently profiled in the Estuary Grant webinar series — access the recording.
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