News > Events > Riverkeeper Events > Toast to the Tribs: Hudson River Watershed Alliance Awards Benefit

Toast to the Tribs: Hudson River Watershed Alliance Awards Benefit

When:
June 23, 2020: 7:00PM to 8:00PM
Where:
Online
To Attend:
Register

Join the Hudson River Watershed Alliance for an online, livestream event to celebrate their 2020 Watershed WaveMakers and the 10th anniversary of the Alliance’s incorporation.

The livestream is free to view, with donations accepted.

You are encouraged to join the livestream early to make sure you are able to connect. Live music from Mike + Ruthy of The Mammals will start at 6:45 PM. These Hudson Valley-based songwriters have made waves in the Americana world and beyond.

The Watershed WaveMaker Awards recognize the exemplary efforts of watershed partners, who are working throughout the year to protect the Hudson Valley’s water resources. The Hudson River Watershed Alliance celebrates:

Peter Smith, Quassaick Creek Watershed Alliance (Individual)

Peter Smith, a volunteer with the Quassaick Creek Watershed Alliance, has been a dogged researcher, educator and advocate devoted to protecting the drinking water supply for 29,000 people in and around the City of Newburgh. He has endeavored to highlight the many threats to drinking water quality, and his insights proved tragically correct, when in 2016 it became widely known that a family of toxic perfluorinated compounds, PFAS, had contaminated the primary drinking water source for the city, Washington Lake. The Hudson River Watershed Alliance recognizes Peter’s substantial work on-the-ground to understand the intricacies of Newburgh’s drinking watershed, incorporate that local knowledge into planning, and bring these issues to the attention of elected and appointed officials at multiple levels of government.

Upper Hudson Watershed Coalition (Watershed Group)

The Upper Hudson Watershed Coalition is a network of Soil & Water Conservation Districts from 7 counties. They work across the 4,620-square-mile Upper Hudson River watershed, from Lake Tear of the Clouds to the Federal Dam in Troy. Supported by the Lake Champlain – Lake George Regional Planning Board, the coalition partners with municipalities to develop plans that lead directly to implementation projects, which improve water quality and stream habitat. The latest is the “Upper Hudson River Watershed Revitalization Plan,” completed in 2020, which focuses on natural resource improvements for stormwater, agriculture, invasive species, erosion, water supply and wastewater, and aquatic passage. The Hudson River Watershed Alliance recognizes the coalition’s significant work to guide projects from funding through construction, while keeping planning initiatives straightforward and effective.

Albany Water Department (Institution)

The Albany Water Department, under the leadership of Water Commissioner Joseph Coffey, works to protect and provide drinking water, manage stormwater, and maintain wastewater infrastructure. A significant accomplishment in 2019 was the daylighting of the Patroon Creek in Albany’s Tivoli Lake Preserve. Decades in the making, this project will improve water quality, improve stream habitat, protect critical infrastructure, reduce the risk of flooding, and improve access to the Patroon Creek within the City of Albany. Albany Water Department has also established an innovative conservation easement and carbon credit program to protect forests in the Alcove and Basic Creek watersheds, the sources of water for 160,000 people in the Capital District, while offsetting carbon emissions. The Hudson River Watershed Alliance recognizes their leadership and innovation in managing water resources, especially while taking a holistic approach. With this award, the Alliance also is putting a spotlight on the essential workers that ensure drinking water is delivered and wastewater is cleaned.

Hudson River Sloop Clearwater (Organization)

While many are familiar with the work of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and its iconic Sloop, few know that Clearwater played a significant role building capacity to protect and restore the tributaries and landscapes of the Hudson River watershed. Clearwater started and incubated the Hudson River Watershed Alliance for its first few years, created volunteer watershed groups on the Fall Kill in Dutchess County and the Rondout Creek in Ulster County, and has supported important grassroots work in Newburgh and other watersheds. The Hudson River Watershed Alliance is honoring Clearwater for its historic contributions to cleaning up the Hudson River, and its visionary role in building capacity to protect the tributaries to the Hudson, especially as the Alliance celebrates its 10th anniversary of incorporation.

Sponsors:

The 2020 Toast to the Tribs is sponsored by:

Watershed Sponsor
JSA Sustainable Wealth Management

River Sponsor
Hudson Valley Regional Council

Creek Sponsors
Capital District Regional Planning Commission
D&B Engineers and Architects, P.C.

Stream Sponsors
Barton & Loguidice
The Chazen Companies
Delaware Engineering PC
Law Office of David K. Gordon
Nelson, Pope & Voorhis, LLC
NYenvironcom
Riverkeeper
Scenic Hudson

Brook Sponsor
Woodstock Land Conservancy

Technical Support
Radio Kingston

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