Swimming In Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal? This Stunning Proposal Could Make It Doable

Could New Yorkers quickly take a dip in one among Brooklyn’s most notorious waterways? A brand new proposal from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) could drive the town to scrub up the polluted Gowanus Canal to the purpose the place swimming and boating might legally be allowed.

The 100-foot vast, 1.8-mile-long canal, presently labeled as a Class SD waterway (supporting solely fishing), could be upgraded to Class SC, which requires swimmable and boating-friendly water high quality requirements. The proposal is a component of a bigger plan affecting 30 waterways throughout the state.

The timing isn’t any coincidence.

Developers and metropolis officers have lengthy envisioned a remodeled Gowanus, following a significant rezoning that may add hundreds of latest flats, parks, and public areas to the neighborhood. A swimmable canal would dramatically elevate the stakes of that redevelopment. After all, phrase on the road is that Gowanus is on monitor to grow to be a mini Copenhagen!

But don’t anticipate to cannonball off the banks anytime quickly–particularly since there are a complete of 11 combined sewer overflow sites that may discharge to the Canal.

While the proposal could possibly be finalized as early this yr, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) remains to be in the midst of a large Superfund cleanup, scheduled to proceed for years. On high of that, an enormous 8-million-gallon underground sewage overflow tank received’t be prepared till 2030.

Environmental advocates like Riverkeeper applaud the brand new classification as progress, although they warning in opposition to imagining the Gowanus as Brooklyn’s subsequent seaside. Em Ruby, senior coverage coordinator at Riverkeeper, advised Crain’s:

This is unquestionably an enchancment for water high quality…But due to different circumstances, swimming shouldn’t be thought-about a finest use.

Still, the considered a future the place kayaks, canoes, and possibly even swimmers crowd the canal is sufficient to stir curiosity.

For now, Brooklynites should keep on with paddle excursions from teams just like the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, who since 1999 have been on a mission to show one of many metropolis’s most polluted waterways right into a vacation spot for enjoyable, activism, and schooling.