2020 PEERS Sampling Report

In 2020, CURB staff embarked on the beginning of a two year project focused on a deeper understanding of the health of the Saw Mill River. As part of the DEC PEERS (Professional External Evaluations of Rivers and Streams) program, staff collected samples along the length of the river starting in Pleasantville and ending in Yonkers. Samples were then shipped to an ELAP (Environmental Lab Accreditation Program) certified lab where they would be processed and provide results with standards approved by the state. The goals of this project include providing the DEC with a dataset that would ultimately become a factor of influence in regulatory activities.

This information is also an important tool for stakeholders to better understand their local waterway. As part of our educational efforts, we have created an interim report detailing our results from the 2020 sampling season that can be viewed here. This report details some of the many different factors that are looked at to determine the overall health of a waterway. True results of this project and the summary of this river's health will come at the closing of the 2021 sampling season.