New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the New York – New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program have released the “2020 State of the Hudson.”
The report documents the status and trends of the Hudson River Estuary’s water quality, its natural communities and inhabitants, and the health of the landscape that nurtures the Hudson and its tributaries.
This compilation of recent scientific data and historical information allows program managers, partner organizations, and interested members of the public to measure and communicate progress toward state and federal goals for conserving and restoring the estuary ecosystem. The report also identifies environmental areas of need.
Each chapter in the report compiles the best available scientific data for a variety of indicators of environmental condition. Where the information is available, the report illuminates long and short-term trends. Historic environmental changes are also discussed to put more recent trends in the context of improvements resulting from the passage of the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and other laws of the 1970s and 1980s. Where there is not enough data to draw conclusions, the report sets a baseline for future considerations of progress.
The “2020 State of the Hudson” was prepared for DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program by the New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program with support from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund in partnership with NEIWPCC.