In 2005 the Fishkill Creek Watershed Committee, in partnership with the Dutchess County Environmental Management Council, inventoried the natural resources of the stream and watershed to produce a management plan. It focused on protecting groundwater, which many residents surveyed had expressed the greatest level of concern about. Recommendations made were to expand and maintain riparian buffer along the stream while protecting it against encroaching land use, and to find a way to balance groundwater withdrawals and discharges. It also called for research into alternatives to the use of impervious surfaces, such as asphalt, which increased runoff at the expense of groundwater.