Saw Mill River

Saw Mill River

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Not to be confused with Sawmill Brook (New Jersey).

Saw Mill River passes under Old Croton Aqueduct in southern Yonkers

The Saw Mill River is a 20-mile (32-km) tributary of the Hudson River in the United States. It flows from a marsh in Chappaqua to Yonkers, New York, where it empties into the Hudson. The last 2,000 feet (600 m) of the river, originally including a small gorge, are buried in a flume passing under downtown Yonkers and its railroad station.

Known as Nepperhan Creek in the 17th century, the river by the 19th century had seen industry grow up along its lower portion. The New York and Putnam Railroad ran along the river from Putnam County to central Yonkers, and thence to Tibbets Creek and the Harlem River.

Early in the 21st century, the "Old Putnam Railroad" became the South County and North County Trailways, a network of bicycle/pedestrian trails.

In 2008, Groundwork Hudson Valley, the coordinator of the Saw Mill River Coalition, received a three-year $889,183 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Targeted Watershed Grant. It was one of 15 recipients of a nationwide pool of more than 100 applicants.

On September 25–26, 2009, the Saw Mill River Coalition organized the first BioBlitz to catalog species of plant life, animal life, insects, fungi, and bacteria in the river and its watershed.^[1]

Construction for exposing the river

On December 15, 2010, the City of Yonkers and its partner agencies broke ground on an effort to expose parts of the flume to daylight. The $34 million plan was proposed in 2007 as part of a $3 billion redevelopment plan for the city. A park around the opened section was designed by City of Yonkers and Groundwork Hudson Valley with help from the Project for Public Spaces.

The river is surrounded by several major roads, such as the Saw Mill River Parkway, which parallels the river along its west bank for much of its route through Westchester County; New York State Route 100; New York State Route 9A; and other suburban road development. Most storm drains from these roads lead into the river. The runoff from streets and untreated storm drains from communities around the river contain pesticides and garbage among other objects. Sedimentation has also been a problem in the river for several decades. These problems are being alleviated through government and community efforts.