SawMillRiver
Westchester County, New York
Geography:
A tributary of the Hudson River, the SawMillRiver is entirely located in Westchester County, New York. It flows south from marshlands on the west side of Chappaqua, NY to Yonkers, NY paralleling the Saw Mill River Parkway for much of its length. It empties into the Hudson at Dock Street in Yonkers after traveling underground for 2000 feet. The river is 23 miles long, and has a watershed of 16,960 acres (26.5 square miles). The land usage in this watershed is broken down to 63.4% urban use, 35.4% forest, and 1% is used for Agriculture.
History:
As with other areas along the Hudson River, the SawMillRiver was first occupied by Native Americans, specifically the Wechquaescheck tribe. The river was located within a region they named the Nepperhan or “trap fishing place.” The Native Americans found the area between the SawMillRiver and the Hudson an excellent place for farming, fishing, and shell collecting; and the fertility of this area was later discovered by the Dutch. Henry Hudson’s crew aboard the Half Moon toured the SawMillRiver area of the Hudson in 1609 and purchased oysters from the seemingly friendly Native Americans. In 1646, Adriaen van der Donck purchased the Nepperhan region and became the founder of Yonkers, named after his title of “Jonkheer”(Dutch for young heir).
No sooner then he laid down a saw mill on the river did it become the rapidly expanding industrialized city of Yonkers, which today has a population of about 188,000 people. In 1864, Alexander Smith set up the Alexander Smith Carpet Hills factory in Yonkers (once the site of the Waring Hat Factory). His carpet factory closed down in 1954 and later would host tenants like Gestetner and the Finkelstein Hat Company. In the 1990s, the factories became the NepperhanBusinessCenter, which the United States Department of the Interior had declared a national historic landmark in 1983.
State of the River:
Unfortunately, much of the river has been neglected and now flows beneath Yonkers for 2,000 feet in an underground tunnel called a flume. The main sources of pollution are: runoff from residential and commercial development and roads such as the Saw Mill Parkway, Saw Mill River Road and the city streets of Yonkers; sewage overflows from the Saw Mill River Pump Station of Mount Kisco; and numerous untreated discharges from residential, commercial and industrial facilities in the watershed.
Steps are being taken to restore the Saw Mill. The recently formed Saw Mill River Coalition promises to unite organizations such as Riverkeeper, Groundwork Yonkers, WestchesterCounty and BeczakEnvironmentalEducationCenter in efforts to support protection and restoration of the river through education and advocacy.
Future infrastructure projects that will affect the Saw Mill include a New York City Watershed Department projected upgrade for the Saw Mill River Pump Station, a proposed stadium in downtown Yonkersand a Army Corps of Engineers proposal for channel modification. Flooding in residential structures, businesses and industries in April 1980, April 1984, and September 1999 has prompted a proposal for 2.7 miles of channel modification on the SawMillRiver and a 210 foot retaining wall erected on the river between the Saw Mill Parkway bridges. It has been suggested that habitat would be preserved through the use of instream habitat structures and landscaped banks. Restoration and environmental enhancement projects for the Saw Mill are also being considered by the Corps.
The watershed of the Saw Mill is highly developed and disturbed. With prevalent steep slopes, a large percentage of impervious surfaces and intense development pressures for commercial and residential construction, the Saw Mill is threatened by flooding, erosion, and polluted water quality from stormwater runoff and polluted groundwater. More on sprawl….
Hudson riverfront expansion and development
In an effort to assist Yonkers with its waterfront revitalization efforts, WestchesterCounty purchased a 2.2-acre parcel of land from Scenic Hudson for use by BeczakEnvironmentalCenter and the public. With the city’s commitment to maintain the park and restore a building on the premises, the CountyBoard recently approved Phase Two of the project which provides $1 million to help develop the site of the former Habirshaw Club for waterfront access and enjoyment by all.
Sewage treatment plant
WestchesterCounty maintains a sewage treatment plant on the Hudson waterfront in Yonkers. The plant and its nearby pump station have a history of violations and complaints. In July, 2001, a power outage resulted in the failure of the North Yonkers Sewage Pump Station, which discharged 5 million gallons of untreated sewage into the Hudson. The plant’s odors have been a neighborhood concern for years. Over the past few years, however, the county’s Department of Environmental Control has made efforts to improve quality of life issues surrounding the plant, by covering the tanks, intensifying air treatment of odors, and upgrading blower systems.
Members of the SawMillRiver Coalition:
- SawMillRiver Coalition: a partnership of non-profit groups, government agencies, and businesses, aims to revitalize and protect the Saw Mill watershed.
Coordinator: Carol Capobianco
Email:
- SawMillRiver Audubon Society: Their mission is to “conserve natural ecosystems through education, advocacy and sanctuary stewardship.”
Website:
Email:
Mailing Address: Saw Mill River Audubon Society, Inc275 Millwood RoadChappaqua, NY10514
Phone: 914.666.6503 Fax: 914.666.7430
- Beczak Environmental Education Center: provide hands-on educational workshops about the Hudson River estuary.
Website:
Email:
Mailing Address: Beczak Environmental EducationCenter35 Alexander Street, Yonkers, New York10701
Phone: (914) 377-1900
- Groundwork Yonkers, Inc.: a charitable organization developed in the last few years to revitalize the landscape of the city of Yonkers. It follows a model developed nearly twenty years ago in the United Kingdom (UK) designed to regenerate towns with long histories and aging infrastructures. One initiative of Groundwork is the Saw Mill River Heritage Trail, which will serve as a continuous recreational resource connecting neighborhoods and business centers.
Executive Director: Rick Magder
Phone: (914) 953-7759
Email:
- Yonkers Downtown/Waterfront Business Improvement District
- Friends of Philipse Manor Hall, Inc.
- Beczak Environmental Education Center: provides hands-on educational workshops about the Hudson River estuary.
Website:
Email:
Mailing Address: Beczak Environmental EducationCenter
35 Alexander Street, Yonkers, New York10701
Phone: (914) 377-1900
- Scenic Hudson
- The Hudson River Estuary Program (HREP)
- WestchesterCountyPlanning Department
- NationalParksServiceRivers and Trails Program
- Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
- Downtown Yonkers Management Association
- HudsonValley Regional Council
- WestchesterCounty Environmental Labs
- Philipse Manor Hall (State Historical Site)
- NYS Watershed Inspector General
- FCWC
- Riverkeeper
- Yonkers Municipal Housing Authority
- HudsonBasinRiver Watch
- U.S. Geological Survey
Scientific Studies:
-Department of Environmental Conservation’s study, “Saw Mill River Drainage Basin,”