The Catskills watershed is a marvel of nature’s bounty and human labor. The system, which collects and directs approximately a billion gallons of fresh drinking water from the Delaware River Basin and Catskill reservoirs into the New York metropolitan area each day, is correctly considered the gold standard of urban water supplies.
The story of how New York City accomplishes this has been as much about good neighbors as good engineering.
But now this relationship has begun to break down, threatening both our Upstate ecology and economy. There is a way forward. This includes emphasizing shared interests, legislative solutions and holding New York City accountable to the Upstate residents who call the watershed’s towns, villages and hamlets home.
On July 20 I traveled from my home in Kinderhook, in Columbia County, to New York City to speak at a public hearing for the state Department of Health’s Filtration Avoidance Determination (FAD). The FAD was first issued in 1997 in a joint Memorandum of Agreement (MOA); it allows New York, like Boston, to avoid the prohibitive cost of building a filtration facility at the source of its water supply, instead using gravity and land management to get water from the Delaware Basin and Catskills downstate through a network of aqueducts. The authority for the land-use enforcement is the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Local watershed communities have been interacting with city officials since the middle part of last century, when Upstate farmland was acquired through eminent domain and flooded. We have seen the positive results of this relationship in policies such as the Septic Rehabilitation Program. This cost-effective water-quality program recognizes the flexibility needed for rural communities such as those found in Delaware County and elsewhere to comply with the DEP’s sewage-upgrade requirements.
Despite stable or improving water quality in our watershed communities, the DEP continues to act as if its sometimes-rigid interpretation of regulations is the only source of environmental progress. In fact, it is not clear that a few of these regulations, such as stormwater requirements, have materially contributed to cleaner water or that these rules are administered in a manner sensitive to the character of rural communities as opposed to their urban and suburban counterparts. Sadly, the DEP has displayed little interest in local concerns and limited flexibility for its regulations in the case of stormwater control. This one-size-fits-all approach is regulating a development boom which simply does not exist here.
The tributaries of the Upper Delaware River south of the reservoirs are also at the mercy of New York City. This ecosystem relies on consistent water releases at optimal temperatures to maintain its recreational fisheries and other aquatic habitats. There is currently no reservoir-management plan in place — truly astounding for a body of water that is both a nature preserve and an economic engine for the region. Like Congressman Gibson, I am supporting the Delaware River Basin Conservation Act to create a restoration program leveraging existing public and private resources that would emphasize flood mitigation and habitat preservation. The future of this natural resource belongs in the hands of the stewards who actually live there.
The DEP must revisit its commitments in the agreement before a new filtration waiver is issued next year. My time spent in these communities listening to members of watershed coalitions, fishermen, boaters, business owners and concerned citizens suggests that a little flexibility and collaboration could go a long way and contribute to overall water quality and pollution control while scaling back some arbitrary and economically damaging regulations in our watershed towns, villages and hamlets.
John Faso and his wife, Mary Frances, a registered nurse, are the proud parents of two children. They have lived in Kinderhook for more than three decades. Faso is former Republican leader of the state Assembly and candidate for Congress in the 19th Congressional district running on the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Reform lines. To learn more about Faso, visit johnfaso.com.
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