Introduction

Located on the north shore of Long Island's Suffolk County, in the Town of Smithtown, the Nissequogue River flows nearly 9 miles from its source - the freshwater Hauppauge Springs - to its mouth on the Long Island Sound at Smithtown Bay. The Nissequogue River Watershed - the river's drainage area - covers over 40 square-miles mainly within the Town of Smithtown plus a small portion of which is in the Town of Islip. For the purposes of this project, we focused most of our efforts on the Town of Smithtown. The Town, including the incorporated villages, covers around 55 square miles, 44 of which are unincorporated. Of the Town's three incorporated villages, only two - the Village of Nissequogue and Village of the Branch - are located within the boundary of the watershed. Both the Town and each of the Villages have all prepared their own Local Waterfront Revitalization Programs (LWRP). According to the New York State Department of State (NYSDOS), an LWRP is "a locally prepared, land and water use plan and strategy for a community's natural, public, working, or developed waterfront through which critical issues are addressed," as well as the program required to implement the plan. These plans help to guide important practices that this study aims to build off of. The abundant protected open spaces throughout the watershed - including Sunken Meadow State Park, Nissequogue River State Park, Caleb Smith State Park and Blydenburgh County Park - help to facilitate stewardship amongst community-members and protect valuable watershed resources.

Because of its significant ecological and recreational values, in 2005 the Long Island Sound Stewardship Initiative (LISSI) named the Nissequogue River and its 40 square-mile watershed one of 33 Stewardship Areas. LISSI is a partnership formed by the Long Island Sound Study to identify places with significant ecological or recreational value throughout the Sound and develop a strategy to protect and enhance these special places. The goals of the Stewardship Initiative are to conserve natural areas, increase access to the Sound, protect important habitats, and plan for multiple uses.

With its established network of committed stakeholders, the Nissequogue River Watershed area was also identified as an ideal location to initiate a pilot program to implement the general principles of LISSI. In 2005, RPA received the first of two National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Long Island Sound Futures Fund awards to oversee the development of a Stewardship Action Plan for the watershed. Additional funding from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has allowed for the creation of a companion website with informative maps, watershed and project information (found at www.rpa.org/nissequogue/). 

The first of its kind for the 33 Stewardship areas, this plan is modeled off of successful watershed plans developed in Norwalk and Saugatuck, Connecticut and is intended to serve as a model for creating successful programs in the remaining Stewardship Areas. Integral to the success of this project has been the central Steering Committee of stakeholders including a cross section of local and regional experts and advocates. Together - through consensus and with the support of the public - this group has developed a plan for the watershed that will ensure effective management and protection of vital natural resources and recreation opportunities for generations to come. 

With specific goals and objectives along four different categories - Habitat, Water Quality, Land Use - Open Space and Outreach & Education - the 100+ recommended actions in this plan identify responsible parties and suggest timeframes for completion to ensure that implementation of these actions is achieved. Further, a subset of the Steering Committee has been identified to continue operating as an Implementation Committee and oversee the efforts to achieve this implementation.

While a number of these actions are achievable with only modest investments  in time and resources, it is understood that some actions will only be achievable when adequate funding and staffing are available. It is encouraged that responsible parties pursue the recommended funding opportunities available to make these recommendations a reality.