Wallkill River called unsafe for swimming

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. >> There are no safe places to swim in the Wallkill River, according to a new report by the environmental watchdog group Riverkeeper.

The report, released this week, is based on monitoring of the river in 2016 for the fecal-indicator bacteria enterococcus..

“Eighty-seven percent of 685 samples taken from the Wallkill watershed [failed] to meet environmental protection guidelines for safe swimming or other recreational activities where ingestion of water or full body contact is likely,” the report states.

Among locations along the 93mile river where every sample exceeded unsafe levels were the Galeville Bridge in Shawangunk and the Saw Mill Brook tributary in New Paltz, Riverkeeper said.

Failure rates for other sites, according to the report, included 87 percent at the Plains Road boat launch in New Paltz; 97 percent at the the Mill Brook Tributary in New Paltz; 87 percent at the Springtown Road boat launch in New Paltz; 70 percent at the state Route 32 fishing-access bridge in Tillson, 70 percent at the Cow Hough Road fishing-access site in Rifton, 37 percent along Coutant Road in Tillson, and 57 percent near the confluence of the Wallkill and the Rondout Creek

in Rosendale.

Riverkeeper said enterococcus is related to discharges from sewage infrastructure failures, sewer overflows, inadequate sewage treatment, septic system failures, agricultural runoff, urban runoff and wildlife.

“The Wallkill River has one of the highest overall levels of contamination ... that Riverkeeper and partners have measured, and day-to-day sampling results show that water quality was rarely safe for swimming when and where we tested,” the report says.

The Riverkeepr report was discussed at a forum this week hosted by the Wallkill River Watershed Alliance.

Town of New Paltz Supervisor Neil Bettez, a member of the alliance and a college science professor, said Riverkeeper’s study demonstrates the importance of monitoring water systems.

Bettez also said high levels of septic and agricultural waste are partly responsible for large algae blooms that have appeared in the river during the past several summers. “The goal is to begin tracking down what we think the sources are for the high nutrients in the Wallkill,” he said.

Alliance members say there are 36 state pollutant permits, including 23 for wastewater treatment facilities, that allow discharges into the Wallkill River. About 27 miles of the river are in New Jersey.