Did You Know Wading in this New York Creek May Cost You $250
It seems innocent enough, you slip off your shoes and wade in the water near the falls at Stony Brook State Park. But your seemingly innocent cool down could cost you $250. So why would the Department of Environmental Conservation care so much about it?There's two reasons.
First is safety, the beds are lined with sharp edged rocks and boulders which can lead to cuts and scrapes. Swimming outside the designated swimming area is also illegal and even more dangerous because of vastly different water depths. And with our recent tendencies for heavy rainfall, flash flooding is a real concern.
The second reason is wading in the stream kicks up silt and sediment. The stream feeds water to the designated swimming areas, and when it becomes muddied and murky it forces the park to close those areas until the water clears again. Apparently this happened several times in the past few weeks.
The DEC rangers and park police have increased patrols and enforcement of the park rules after several social media posts featured people in the stream and swimming outside the designated areas. By posting pictures, you not only end up convicting yourself, but it encourages others to follow your lead when they see you doing it, they believe it's legal.
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