The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has agreed to make a bunch of changes to the way it manages its NYC watershed reservoirs, according to a press release sent out yesterday. The changes will have a big impact on the Delaware River, which was just designated a "Great Water" by a national coalition of environmental groups.
Using its new multi-million-dollar computer program, the DEP plans to release more water from its reservoirs, which, it says, will help prevent flooding, help fisheries, and keep saltwater out of the Delaware River:
Under the new framework: DEP will adjust water releases from its Delaware reservoirs to push back the salt water front that moves up the Delaware River from the Atlantic Ocean; the City will create a higher potential to create a 10% void in its Delaware reservoirs; a subcommittee of the Decree Parties will be established of cold water fisheries staff from each state to ensure that water releases provide maximum ecological benefits downstream; and New Jersey will divert an average of 100 million gallons a day out of the basin via the Delaware & Raritan Canal, except in drought emergencies.
Adam Bosch at the Times Herald-Record highlighted the decision to create "voids" in the reservoirs:
City officials said Thursday that the new plan creates a 10 percent void in reservoirs from Sept. 1 to March 15, and a 5 percent void the rest of the year. The month of June would be exempted, they said.
“This is something we haven’t had previously,” said Paul Rush, the city’s deputy commissioner for water supply. “We’ve tried to be responsive to the concerns raised by folks downstream.”
Those who live along the Delaware River have long argued for voids in the reservoirs as a way to control flooding. Many watchdogs have called for a 20-percent void and remained skeptical of the new plan.
The changes were made as part of an arrangement between the city and the four states that manage and get their drinking water out of the Delaware River. The agreement isn't permanent, and it also isn't final -- details of exactly how the new reservoir releases will be managed are still being hammered out.
It's unclear whether the new agreement will affect a controversial DEP practice of releasing muddy, turbid water from the Ashokan Reservoir into the Lower Esopus Creek, which is a tributary of the Hudson River and therefore not a part of the Delaware River Basin.
The issue of the Esopus releases, which has been simmering all year, erupted again yesterday at a chamber of commerce meeting in the Town of Ulster, according to the Daily Freeman, which observed that town supervisors are divided on the matter:
To town Supervisor James Quigley, the muddy lower Esopus Creek is a sign of flood control. To neighboring Saugerties Supervisor Greg Helsmoortel, it’s an unwelcome symbol of New York City being allowed to dump on upstate communities.
