Sauquoit Creek
# Sauquoit Creek

Sauquoit Creek is a 17.0-mile-long (27.4 km) river in New York, United States. It lies within the southern part of Oneida County. The creek flows eastward, then turns sharply and flows generally northward through the Sauquoit Valley to the Mohawk River, entering the river on the east side of Whitesboro. It is therefore part of the Hudson River watershed.

## History

The word Sauquoit is a form of spelling of the Oneida word Sa-da-quoit, which means "smooth pebbles in a stream".

The first cotton mills in the area were located on the Sauquoit at New York Mills in 1804.

## Hydrology

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) maintains a stream gauge on the creek two miles (3.2 km) upstream from the mouth and 420 feet (130 m) upstream from NY 5A. The station has been in operation since September 2014. The station had a maximum discharge of 6,170 cubic feet per second (175 $m^3/s)$ and a gauge height of 10.17 feet (3.10 m) on October 31, 2019. It had minimum discharge of 13 cubic feet per second (0.37 $m^3/s)$ per second on many days in September 2018 and a minimum gauge height of 10.17 feet (3.10 m) on August 10, 2016.

## Flooding

Flooding happens a lot near the Sauquoit Creek. When it rains in Whitesboro, a Village in the State of New York, the Sauquoit Creek usually floods making it hard to drive near the areas of the Whitesboro Middle School, and the Burger King nearby. One of the most memorable floods was on the night of Halloween 2019, when multiple roads were closed and houses were destroyed. Whitesboro residents were urged to evacuate when this flood happened. Flooding is an issue, and is hoped to be resolved in the future.

## Fishing

Sauquoit Creek offers trout fishing along 5.6 miles (9.0 km) of Public Fishing Rights easements. The stream is stocked annually approximately 6,000 yearling brown trout, in addition to 330 two-year-old fish. Wild brown and brook trout are found in the stream's headwaters.

## Management

The Sauquoit Creek Basin Intermunicipal Commission (SCBIC), which consists of municipalities, agencies and organizations who are signatories to an intermunicipal agreement, addresses issues related watershed management, flooding, and stormwater along Sauquoit Creek.

## Communities along the creek

* Clayville
* Sauquoit
* Chadwicks
* Washington Mills
* New Hartford
* New York Mills
* Whitesboro
