PORT JERVIS, NY — Sen. Charles Schumer threw his weight behind the Port Jervis White Water Kayak Park project by visiting the site on April 6 and sending a message to the two federal agencies that are yet to grant the necessary permits for the project to move forward. Federal Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits will allow the modification of the waterway where the white water park will be constructed if no environmental threat is present.

Riverside Park was mostly empty on the cold, rainy morning, but dignitaries present included Port Jervis Mayor Kelly Decker, Orange County Chief Executive Steven Neuhaus, District Attorney David Hoovler and local officials, including the executive director of the Port Jervis Community Development Agency Valerie Maginsky and executive director of the Tri-State Chamber of Commerce, Charlene Trotter.

Investors, who it is hoped will come up with the necessary funds of $2 to $4 million, are unlikely to go ahead if the future of the project is uncertain because of a lack of permits.

Construction is slated to start in August 2016.

Studies indicate building a whitewater park can provide a major boost to the local economy, as has been shown to happen in other parts of the country. Supporters say the project could bring up to 500,000 visitors to the area. The money they would spend on area hotels, restaurants and businesses is estimated at upward of $33.6 million each year.

Decker explained one of the lures of the park is that it would bring about 400 local jobs into Port Jervis, and help pull the city out of its current poverty level of 17.7%.

Schumer said, “The White Water Kayak Park has the potential to be a game changer for the Port Jervis economy, which is why we cannot allow the necessary federal approvals to get stuck in bureaucratic red tape.”

The park plans will enhance natural river features on the Port Jervis side of the Delaware River, Decker said, adding that early on in the process some dwarf wedge mussels, an endangered species, were found by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, but after splitting the area into two parts, the mussels won’t be an issue.

Decker said, “The park will modify the existing natural water. Studies show a whitewater park actually creates a habitat for the freshwater mussels to grow.”

Schumer described the Delaware River Valley as naturally beautiful, and said that the Port Jervis white water kayak park could put the city and the area on the map, bringing a major economic boom with the tourist trade now reaching the far corner of Orange County.

Schumer said, “For some of the ‘little out-of-the-way’ places like Port Jervis, we have to grab the visitors’ attention with creative tourist attractions and destinations so people have a reason to make the first trip out. If they come once, they’ll come back season after season. Point is, we can’t sit back and pass up an opportunity to create a new attraction and channel new revenues season after season, and that’s what brings me here today.”