Amount Requested: $800,000
The Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve and The Nature Conservancy will use the requested funds to work with a qualified research institution to map nearly 25,000 acres of the Hudson River Estuary’s shallow waters, delivering essential information for predicting storm surges and flooding as the climate changes, and tracking the movement of toxins.  This work will build on earlier riverbed mapping of the estuary’s deep (more than 15’) waters. While we understand the landscape of the Hudson Valley quite well, the riverbed beneath the Hudson River Estuary remains a mystery even 400 years after Henry Hudson first sailed its waters.  Obtaining an accurate picture of the riverbed between the Verrazano Narrows and Troy (the extent to which tides are able to push upriver) is critical if we are to manage the many facets of the river, including adapting to sea level rise and increased flooding due to climate change, controlling the movement of toxins such as PCBs, bolstering recreational fisheries (including striped bass), recovering endangered species, guiding development, and preserving historical treasures (such as shipwrecks).