Challenges in an Urban Area
· Surface waters in the City of Peekskill are most adversely impacted by urban stormwater runoff. Changes in land use that increase either impervious or less-infiltrative land cover lead to flooding, erosion, habitat degradation, and water quality impairment.
· Everyday activities such as driving, maintaining vehicles and lawns, disposing of waste, and even walking pets often cover impervious surfaces with a coating of various harmful materials. Construction sites, power plants, failed septic systems, illegal discharges, and improper sewer connections also add sediment and other contaminants to runoff. When these contaminants enter lakes, streams, and estuaries they result in stormwater pollution. · This pollution can damage important natural resources as well as other activities such as commercial and recreational fishing, swimming, and boating. |
Screen Shot of the City of Peekskill's Natural Resources Map depicting Dickey Brook
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Data from the Peekskill Rapid Stream Assessment Training of Dickey Brook conducted on June 7 and June 28, 2014
Site Sketch: |
· Embeddeness: The overall embeddeness score of cobble and boulders was 40%, which is good on the RSAT evaluation method. |
· A few deep pools with moderate sand/silt content were noted in this reach of the brook, and few streak marks, indicating fair-to-good channel scouring/sediment deposit. No point bars were noted. Riffle to pool ratio was not estimated. · Conclusion: This cursory assessment of the Dickey Brook, as observed along this reach, indicates that this stream is in good condition and only slightly impacted by human use and other factors. |
Peekskill Water Facts· Peekskill is a small MS4, or municipal separate
stormwater sewer systems, and is regulated under EPA's Clean Water Act, which
requires a permit to discharge stormwater into a jurisdictional surface water.
· Peekskill’s water system serves approximately twenty-three thousand people through forty eight hundred service connections. · The total water produced in 2013 was 1,504,949,000 gallons, and the amount delivered to customers was 1,099,689,844. The daily average of water treated and pumped into the distribution system is 3,012,849 gallons per day, with the highest single day on February 22nd, 4,703,000 gallons. · The estimated unaccounted for water in the Peekskill system is 27%. This figure is based on water pumped against the amount of water sold. Unaccounted for water includes water lost due to water main breaks, fire fighting, street cleaning, hydrant flushing, under registration of water meters and other miscellaneous unmetered use of water. · It is estimated that the average household uses between 25,000 - 30,000 gallons per quarter. · As New York State and Federal regulations require, Peekskill routinely tests drinking water for a specified range of contaminants including: total coliform, turbidity, inorganic compounds, nitrate, nitrite, lead and copper, volatile organic compounds, total tri-halomethanes, haloacetic acids, radiological, and synthetic organic compounds. · There are no surface waters within the City of Peekskill that are currently on the NYSDEC’s 2014 list of impaired surface waters. |
Peekskill has a separate storm water system as shown in the SSO diagram, which means that the stormwater flows directly to the river at Annsville Bay and does not back up into the Sewage Treatment Plant during heavy rains
Hollow Creek: the source of 90% of Peekskill's drinking water
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