Report by Legislator, Bill McCabe

Over the past two years we have experienced four separate 100-year storms causing significant flooding of creeks and streams, especially along Jackson Creek running from Union Vale through LaGrange into a portion of East Fishkill before joining Sprout Creek opposite the recreation fields in Wappinger off Robinson Lane. These floods have caused damage to county and town roads, private properties, small farms, and ball fields in LaGrange and Wappinger.

Jackson Creek has changed its course at a number of places and has become clogged with debris (natural and man-made), run-off from roads, and sediment from construction sites. In the wetlands between Noxon Rd. and Emans Rd. in LaGrangeville, there is no longer any definable stream, as it has branched off into smaller rivulets and bogs. All along the creek banks are being undermined by storm waters, causing trees to fall into the channel and sediment to collect in the creek bed, resulting in a wider, more shallow creek that cannot support the fish and wildlife that it used to..

For the past year county and town officials have been meeting to discuss unified, cooperative ways to restore Jackson Creek and prevent some of the flooding problems. The costs are substantial, beyond what can be afforded by the individual towns or the county. Recently Assemblymen Molinaro and Miller submitted a request for State funding to restore Jackson Creek. This project is currently waiting for the Governor's approval. The planning and implementation will be handled by the Dutchess County Soil and Water District with the cooperation of the State DEC. Our newly elected Congressional Representatives, Kirsten Gillibrand and John Hall, have submitted requests to the federal government for funding stream restoration and flood prevention for the rest of Dutchess County.

The restoration of creeks and streams is definitely needed but must be done with a commitment to improved regional planning, wetland protection laws, and plantings along the streams to hold the banks in place. The issues along Jackson Creek are varied and complex and must be addressed with prudence and care to find the correct balance when we implement a stream restoration plan.