" 

 == Flooding of 2011 & other comments == 

 Mention of the severe flooding of 2011 (Hurricane Irene followed immediately by Tropical Storm Lee) should be made as it was worse than 1955's flooding. It effected the availability of some crops in the US as well as their prices, onions and pumpkins spring to mind. Where I live, the fields a mile from the Wallkill were under four feet of water. And I don't see anything about continuing proposals for dredging by the Army Corps of Engineers to try to mitigate the flooding.   

 The History section, 3rd paragraph, begins with: ""Settlers recognized the agricultural possibilities of the Drowned Lands almost as soon as they moved in."" This is the first and only reference to the Drowned Lands. An explanation is in order at minimum and an article of it's own at maximum. The flood plain was formed from glacial activity, was it not? The depth of the black dirt is somewhere around 30 feet in places. I don't know the name of the soil type, but it's very peaty and holds water like a sponge, increasing the impact of the flooding on farmers.  

 If only the Wallkill looked as pretty all along it's course as the photograph in the article, taken near Walden. Unfortunately, it does not. 

 This article is much better than so many others for this area of the Hudson River Valley. Congratulations!   "