Partnership to Save Polluted New York City River
Bronx River Alliance Restoring the City’s Only Freshwater River
Dec 30, 2008
The Bronx River Alliance oversees everything from river cleanup to improving public access. By combining knowledge, skills and resources from a variety of organizations the Bronx River is able to recover from years of neglect.
The History of the Bronx River
Originally known as Aquehung or River of High Bluffs, the Bronx River shoreline was purchased from the Mohegans by Jonas Bronck in the 1600s. Beaver were common along the waterway at that time but extensive trapping reduced their numbers significantly.
By the mid-1700s multiple mills, powered by the river, contributed to the decline of the health of the waterway. Paper, tapestry and snuff manufacturing polluted the waters. The construction of the New York Central Railroad completed the transformation of the Bronx River into an industrial waste area.
Bronx River Restoration and The Bronx River Working Group
Efforts to beautify the waterway included the creation of the Bronx Park in 1888 and the Bronx River Parkway in 1925. A sewer system was constructed in 1905. But the river was far from clean.
Then community activists took the initiative in the early seventies, creating Bronx River Restoration, and beginning the serious cleanup process. But the real change came in 1997 as Partnerships for Parks brought the Bronx River Working Group together to coordinate the efforts of the many groups working on the river.
The Bronx River Alliance
In 2001, the Bronx River Alliance emerged from the Bronx River Working Group as a non-profit organization coordinating the activities of public and private partners interested in the Bronx River. By involving all interested parties, the Alliance is able to better care for the river and greenway. Today the Bronx River Alliance includes 21 community-based organizations, 33 non-governmental organizations, 8 federal and 19 state or local government agencies and 24 schools.
The Alliance is divided into five area of expertise:
- The Ecology Team- responsible for cleanup and restoration of the Bronx River
- The Greenway Team –development and management of parklands on both sides of the river with public access to the waterway and parks.
- The Education Team - help educators of many types utilize the river as a classroom, inform the public about the Bronx River and train river monitor volunteers
- The Outreach Program works on involving the community through volunteer projects and social events, which spread the word about the Bronx River Alliance and its importance.
- The Recreation Program organizes and enhances leisure activities on the river and in the parklands encouraging the public to enjoy the restored river and parks.
Despite the existence of the Clean Water Act there are still many heavily polluted rivers in the United States. But the Bronx River Alliance has been so successful in bringing groups together to work on the restoration of the waterway that other cities are attempting to follow their model. And, as an indication of the success of the Bronx River Alliance efforts, a beaver has moved back into the Bronx, the first one in 200 years.
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