New York City Watershed Gets Nine Water Quality Projects
The government of New York will spend more than $1.25 million in federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) funding for nine projects to enhance water quality and monitoring in the New York City watershed, particularly in the Cannonsville Reservoir basin and the New Croton Reservoir basin.
“The New York City watershed is an extraordinary and complex network of reservoirs, lakes, rivers and streams providing safe drinking water for more than nine million New Yorkers,” Governor George Pataki said announcing the funding on Tuesday. “It is one of the largest unfiltered surface drinking water systems in the world and we are working diligently to safeguard this critical resource for future generations.”
A federal grant under the SDWA is providing $1,250,173 for the nine projects conducted by state researchers, local governments, academia and nonprofit organizations to undertake research, monitoring, education, and implementation of management practices in the watershed.
Several of the projects in Delaware County will provide information for future stormwater control programs that will reduce discharges of phosphorus and stormwater runoff from farms and hamlets into the Cannonsville Reservoir. Phosphorus reduction in the Cannonsville Reservoir is one of the highest priorities of the New York City Watershed Protection Program.
In addition, researchers at the State University of New York – College of Environmental Science and Forestry will use the funding to forecast future water quality based on projected land use changes in the Catskill-Delaware watershed using historical data and modeling projections.
Funding is also being provided for a project within the New Croton Reservoir watershed that will monitor the use of best management practices on land development located on a tributary to Hunter Brook. A teacher training and curriculum education program will be continued and expanded for school children doing stream monitoring in the watershed.
The New York City watershed covers nearly 2,000 square miles in the counties of Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Ulster, Sullivan, Westchester, Putnam, and Dutchess and provides about 1.4 billion gallons of drinking water per day.
Provided by the Environmental News Service.