Reservoirs: Full to the brim

Times Herald-Record reporter Adam Bosch reports on his environment blog that the New York City reservoir system is full to capacity -- plus a little extra. (Not sure exactly how that's possible, but OK.)

The reservoirs currently stand at 101.1 percent full, which is roughly 12 percent than the average for this time of year. Seems like a series of big rainstorms last week, combined with the melting snowpack in the Catskills, has filled ‘em to the brim.

The result? The reservoirs are spilling over into local waterways, Wawarsing is still basically a giant water fountain, and the lower Esopus is once again the color of Yoo-Hoo.

Wawarsing homeowner Laura Zakotiria-Smith, whose house is frequently flooded by leaks from the underground Delaware Aqueduct, posted an album of photos of recent flooding in her neighborhood on our Facebook wall today. In the above photo, Town of Wawarsing Supervisor Lenny Distel, DEP Deputy Commissioner Paul Rush and homeowners Marc Cathcart and Stephen Smith observe the soggy state of Smith Road.

For real-time information on the capacity of the reservoirs, you can visit the DEP's live updating reservoir map here.