Esopus Creek

Esopus Creek
Esopus Kill, Saugerties Creek
Anglers in the Esopus near Phoenicia, with Mount Tremper in the background, 2020
Map of Esopus Creek and its watershed
EtymologyLocal Lenape tribe; variously translated as "little river" or "high banks"
Native nameAtkarkaton, Atkankarten (Munsee)
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
RegionCatskills, Hudson Valley
CountyUlster
TownsShandaken, Olive, Marbletown,
Hurley, Ulster, Saugerties (also Phoenicia, Kingston and the village of Saugerties)
Physical characteristics
SourceWinnisook Lake
 • locationShandaken
 • coordinates42°0′55″N 74°24′45″W / 42.01528°N 74.41250°W / 42.01528; -74.41250
 • elevation2,660 ft (810 m)
MouthHudson River
 • location
Saugerties
 • coordinates
42°4′17″N 73°55′45″W / 42.07139°N 73.92917°W / 42.07139; -73.92917
 • elevation
1–4 ft (0.30–1.22 m)
Length65.4 mi (105.3 km)
Basin size425 sq mi (1,100 km2)[1]
Discharge 
 • locationColdbrook, New York
 • average680.8 cu ft/s (19.28 m3/s)
 • maximum75,800 cu ft/s (2,150 m3/s)
Discharge 
 • locationMount Marion, New York
 • average775.4 cu ft/s (21.96 m3/s)
 • minimum5.3 cu ft/s (0.15 m3/s)
 • maximum30,500 cu ft/s (860 m3/s)
Basin features
River systemHudson River
Tributaries 
 • leftShandaken Tunnel, Stony Clove Creek, Saw Kill, Plattekill Creek
 • rightWoodland Creek
WaterfallsOtter Falls, Parker Falls, Blossom Falls, Glenerie Falls, Cantine Falls

Esopus Creek /ɪˈspəs/ is a 65.4-mile-long (105.3 km)[2] tributary of the Hudson River that drains the east-central Catskill Mountains in the U.S. state of New York. From its source at Winnisook Lake on the slopes of Slide Mountain, the Catskills' highest peak, it flows across Ulster County to the Hudson at Saugerties. Many tributaries extend its watershed into neighboring Greene County and a small portion of Delaware County. Midway along its length, it is impounded at Olive Bridge to create Ashokan Reservoir, the first of several built in the Catskills as part of New York City's water supply system. Its own flow is supplemented 13 miles (21 km) above the reservoir by the Shandaken Tunnel, which carries water from the city's Schoharie Reservoir into the creek.

The creek, originally known by the Native Americans in the area as Atkarkaton or Atkankarten and by Dutch settlers as the "Esopus Kill",[3]: 56  takes its name from the Esopus tribe of the Lenape, who were living around the lower Esopus when the Dutch first explored and settled the Hudson Valley in the early 17th century. The creek's wide valley made it an ideal trading route for the Esopus and other Lenape who harvested the beaver pelts the European traders desired. Later, under the English, it became the beginning point for contentious land claims in the mountains. After independence, the Esopus corridor became the main route into the Catskills, first by road then later by the Ulster and Delaware Railroad, for forest-product industries like logging, tanning and charcoal making. Those industries declined in the late 19th century, shortly before the creation of the Forest Preserve and the Catskill Park made the region more attractive for resorts and recreation, particularly trout fishing. The renewed Esopus also attracted the attention of fast-growing New York City, which was able to acquire land and build the reservoir and tunnel after overcoming local political opposition.

The reservoir divides the creek into an upper stretch, mostly a wild mountain stream, and a lower stretch closer to the Hudson that gradually becomes more estuarine. Above the reservoir, its water quality is closely monitored, not only for its role in the city's water supply but to preserve its local economic importance as a recreational resource. As the upper Esopus is one of the most productive trout streams in the Northeast, fly fishermen come in great numbers to take trout from its relatively accessible banks. Canoeists and kayakers have been drawn to its whitewater, which has also spawned a busy local tubing industry in the summer months. The lower Esopus is mainly an aesthetic and ecological resource, although the estuary at Saugerties is a popular bass fishery.

The Esopus's role in the state and regional economy has led to a concentrated effort to protect and manage it, particularly on the upper stretch. The interests of the various stakeholders have not always converged, particularly where it concerns the city's management of its water needs. Turbidity created by discharges from the Shandaken Tunnel after a 1996 flood led to a successful lawsuit against the city and a state regulation; downstream of the reservoir the city has been criticized for contributing to flooding problems by releasing too much water during heavy rainstorms since Hurricane Irene in 2011. Boaters and anglers have also clashed, and invasive species are beginning to enter the upper creek as well.

  1. ^ "Overview". Lower Esopus Watershed Partnership. 2011–2017. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
  2. ^ "The National Map, National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data". U.S. Geological Survey. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  3. ^ Clearwater, Alphonso Trumpbour, ed. (1907). The History of Ulster County, New York. Kingston, New York: W.J. Van Deusen. OCLC 1046588341. Retrieved October 13, 2020.