NARROWSBURG, NY — It’s unlikely that any major renovations will be made to the Ten Mile River Access point near Narrowsburg after residents’ complaints about excessive mud there.
At its August 20 meeting, the Upper Delaware Council encouraged discussion about the mud at the access point, which locals say is knee high and “smells like sewage.” Eugene Wolff, a Narrowsburg resident who has been active in lobbying for something to mitigate the mud, repeated that he thinks it is a safety issue for swimmers, boaters and tubers.

The National Park Service (NPS), which co-manages the property along with the Boy Scouts of America, shells out about $35,000 for maintenance there—including the operation of a NPS kiosk and port-a-johns. Natural resources chief officer Donald Hamilton said that the site is not appropriate for vehicular access and “likely never will be.” Previous suggestions of a concrete ramp or dock over the mud would be unrealistic, he added.

“The area along the shoreline, along the New York side, is an eddy area where you actually have a slow flow of water… and sediment and silt is carried in the water column as the water slows down there, it settles out so it’s a very soft muddy area. This is a natural condition of the river,” he said. “We’re not going to reengineer the hydrologic processes of the river there, nor are we ever going to prevent soft sediment from building up on that side.”

He added that it’s not exactly the responsibility of the National Park Service to make capital improvements to the area. The Ten Mile River Scout Camps, which would likely be responsible for such infrastructural changes, agrees with the NPS’ assessment of the site.

“We agree with the National Park Service on that. It’s not an area that we would be able to do anything like that,” said Wayne Holmes, director of the Boy Scouts of America Ten Mile River Scout Camps, referring to a suggestion that a concrete pad or ramp be put at the site.

The National Park Service has agreed to put up an exhibit explaining the natural pattern occurring at the access and to meet with members of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Council in September to utilize their expertise. Additionally, Hamilton said, the NPS will pursue other Boy Scouts of America land that may be more suitable for carry-in boat access that the Boy Scouts may be willing to sell. The Boy Scouts of America will continue to work with the National Park Service, Holmes said.

Wolff said he was not pleased with the meeting August 20. “The NPS… claimed the mud was only 10 inches deep. How that was determined was not shared,” he said. “My own experience and that of others who showed me photos on their phones at RiverFest [where Wolff carried a sign about the access] disputes that claim… Basically the whole idea of an improvement project was a little bit like too much work for the NPS, and they just want to close their eyes and wish it away.”

Wolff and town board member Tony Ritter have suggested crowd funding for a concrete pad at the site. Hamilton said silt and mud will just build up on the ramp, making it slippery and potentially dangerous. He also said that the park service would be required to conduct core samples at the site should they decide to put in a ramp, “and no one is producing any funding to be able to do that.”

In response to claims that the mud could be unsafe, Hamilton said he has spoken with a former NPS representative locally who said there have never been safety issues there in the past. “This area is not any more unsafe than any other area on the river,” Hamilton said.

UDC Executive Director Laurie Ramie said the organization has agreed to keep the issue active on its water use and resource management committee.

“We shall see what happens at the next meeting, but I suspect inertia will prevail and summer 2020 will be here with the same circumstances at TMR,” Wolff said.