Hope for Hudson River Fish

Last month I wrote about a recent study documenting declining fish populations in the Hudson River, especially American shad. I'm happy to report Gov. Paterson already has earmarked funding to seek ways of remedying conditions likely contributing to the shad's decline, including over-fishing, habitat loss and increased populations of predatory species. The state Department of Environmental Conservation will head up this initiative.

American Shad / NOAA via Wikimedia Commons

The most important action the Department can take is to establish regulations requiring Hudson River power plants to replace obsolete "once through" cooling technology with commercially viable systems that reduce water withdrawal by more than 90 percent. For more than 30 years, Scenic Hudson, Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council have waged a David vs. Goliath battle with the power companies to persuade them to install "closed cycle" cooling systems that recycle river water, rather than continuously flushing their plants with new water. The plants utilize hundreds of millions of gallons a day, with the largest withdrawing in excess of a billion gallons a day, causing massive fish kills and discharging warm water back into the river. The new data makes a compelling case that New York State should require the plants to install the water-efficient systems -- before it is too late for Hudson River fisheries.

A positive component of the plan Governor Paterson announced is the state's participation in the Hudson River Environmental Conditions Observing System, a private-public partnership that relies on stations throughout the Hudson River estuary to track crucial data relating to the river and its denizens. This information also will be invaluable in determining the impacts of global warming on such things as river salinity, temperature and rising tides. Thanks to the governor for taking such prompt action on this front. We hope he will move as expeditiously to require closed cycle cooling at the power plants.