December 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 33

15 municipalities and is the city's
largest freshwater river.
Historically, the river was forest-lined and fed into a vast tidal
marsh system. Over the past two
centuries, human activities have
significantly altered the river and
its watershed - much of its length
has been hardened, dammed,
piped and/or systematically incorporated into the city's combined
sewer system. Its tributaries and
floodplains have been filled, and
the forests replaced with dense
urban development. These alterations have degraded the river's
ecological health and biological
diversity, reduced recreational opportunities and other social benefits to the surrounding communities and, in some places, have cut
off the local community from the
river entirely. Despite these pressures from a growing metropolis,
the Bronx River watershed still
contains the largest extent of the
city's original forest and is home
to more than 35 species of fish,
40-plus species of birds and numerous mammals, including beavers and coyote.
In 1974, community activists
began the process of cleaning up
and restoring access to the river.
In 1997, a Bronx River Working
Group was convened, composed of
more than 60 community organizations, public agencies and businesses committed to restoring the river
and improving access to it throughout the Bronx. Together, they rallied support to remove more than
640 tons of garbage, 89 cars and
30,000 tires, appliances, bicycles
and pieces of furniture. In 2001,
with support from NYC Parks, this
working group developed into the
Bronx River Alliance, a permanent

In 1997, a Bronx
River Working
Group was
convened,
composed of more
than 60 community
organizations,
public agencies
and businesses
committed to
restoring the river
and improving
access to it
throughout the
Bronx.
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to
continue restoration and advocacy
work for the long term.
Through a public-private partnership with NYC Parks, the
Bronx River Alliance works collaboratively with a wide range of partners to improve, protect and restore
the Bronx River watershed. Since
2001, the Alliance has developed
innovative pollution abatement
and restoration programs, hosted
on-water recreation and education opportunities for thousands
of people and engaged community stakeholders in development of
multiple watershed plans.
In 2010, building on prior separate planning efforts, NYC Parks,
the Bronx River Alliance, Westchester County Department of
Planning and the New York Department of State worked together
to develop and release the Bronx
River Intermunicipal Watershed

Best Practices/Tips
i
i for
Watershed Approach to
Restoration Efforts:
I. Long-term adaptive management
is key. A watershed plan should
be a living document, so plan to
revisit it periodically to make sure
restoration efforts are on track
and still in line with community
priorities.
II. Planning should integrate
across boundaries: built and
natural environments, social and
ecological processes, upstream
and downstream communities.
III. Community involvement
is critical for success.
Local organizations reflect
neighborhood needs and priorities.
IV. Public-private partnerships
provide a model to connect
government resources with local
organizations. This allows transfer
of skills, expertise and funding
and also facilitates the flow of
information between communities
and agencies.

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Parks & Recreation

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December 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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