New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar today announced approximately $384,000 will help the city of Hudson, Columbia County, and town of Bethlehem, Albany County, increase shoreline resilience and improve recreational access using nature-based solutions. Funding for these projects is administered by NEWIPCC in partnership with DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program and supported by New York State’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF).

“New York is bolstering sustained efforts to help flood-risk Hudson River communities adapt to climate change-driven extreme weather while protecting the State’s natural resources,” Interim DEC Commissioner Sean Mahar said. “The $384,000 announced today will advance the implementation of projects that will improve waterfront resilience and shoreline stabilization and we commend our partners at NEWIPCC and the towns of Hudson and Bethlehem for their partnerships in advancing these critical projects.” 

Susan Sullivan, NEIWPCC Executive Director said, “NEIWPCC is pleased to help the communities of Hudson and Bethlehem become more resilient to flooding, storm surge, and sea-level rise through shovel-ready engineering plans and documents.”

Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. (GPI) was awarded $184,000 for a shoreline stabilization project at Henry Hudson Park in the town of Bethlehem. The park is the town’s only public access point to the Hudson River and provides a public boat launch, accessible fishing platform, kayak launch, and many other amenities. Commercial ship and barge traffic creates large vessel wakes that contribute to shoreline erosion and damage to docks and bulkheads. This project proposes to replace the bulkhead with a combination of rock riprap revetment and plantings, while balancing opportunities for ecological health, resiliency, and recreation. Preliminary designs will be shared with the public and the town, and feedback will be incorporated into the final engineering plans and bid documents.

Assemblage Landscape Architecture DPC was awarded $200,000 for a climate-adaptive waterfront park design in the city of Hudson. The project for this proposal will create a more accessible waterfront that maintains Hudson's water-based recreational vitality, while prioritizing nature-based solutions that restore the shoreline to a dynamic intertidal marshland and adapt to projected future sea-level rise and flooding.

Following an onslaught of drenching rain, furious storms, sweltering heat, and bitter cold, New York State continues to advance resiliency initiatives and investments that are helping to protect communities. Governor Kathy Hochul’s comprehensive resiliency plan includes $5.5 billion in water quality infrastructure funding since 2017, the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022, and another year of record funding of $400 million for the State’s Environmental Protection Fund. They are just a few of the many actions underway to provide municipalities with resources needed to adapt to and mitigate climate change’s impacts.

The Hudson River Estuary Program helps communities conserve and protect the Hudson River and its valley. Created in 1987, the DEC program focuses on the tidal Hudson and its adjacent watershed from the dam at Troy to the Verrazano Narrows in New York City.