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Management of New York City’s Watershed

This presentation discusses the development, costs, funding, and major program elements of New York City's Watershed Protection Program, which aims to ensure a safe and sustainable water supply for 9 million people.

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Management of New York City’s Watershed

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  1. Management of New York City’s Watershed Michael A. Principe, Ph.D. Deputy Commissioner New York City Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Water Supply October 10, 2005

  2. Presentation Outline • Development of NYC’s Watershed Protection Program • Costs and Funding • Contractual Mechanisms Supporting Watershed Protection • Major Program Elements

  3. Primarily a surface water supply • 19 reservoirs & 3 controlled lakes • System Capacity: 550 billion gallons (over 2 billion kiloliters) • Serves 9 million people (1/2 of population of New York State) • Delivers approx. 1.2 billion gallons (4.5 million kiloliters) per day to the City • Source of water is a 2,000 square mile (5,180 square kilometer) watershed in parts of 8 upstate counties • Operated and maintained by NYCDEP

  4. CATSKILL AND DELAWARE SUPPLIES • Located primarily West of the Hudson River • Rural, mountainous watershed • 70% forested, low population, significant agricultural uses • Shallow soils and porous rock produce high quality water • City has Filtration Avoidance Determination for these supplies

  5. Governmental Agencies Involved in Watershed Protection • Program involves agencies from: • Federal (USEPA) • State • New York City • 8 upstate counties • 60+ towns and villages • Crosses multiple jurisdictions, all outside of NYC • New York has strong “home rule” tradition

  6. Issues Driving City to Watershed Protection • The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1986 and the Surface Water Treatment Rule of 1989 established objective and subjective criteria for avoidance • Concern over whether City could meet subjective criteria • City owned less than 8% of watershed • City regulations outmoded • City alarmed by potential cost of filtration plant (originally estimated at $4-8 billion) • Firm belief by NYC that reliance on end-of-pipe solutions alone is not prudent; best approach is to protect quality of water at its source

  7. Development of Watershed Protection Program • DEP received first filtration waiver from EPA in 1993 • Waiver conditioned on implementation of protection programs • DEP designed comprehensive monitoring program to assess threats to water quality • Based on assessment of threats, management programs designed and implemented

  8. Watershed Memorandum of Agreement • MOA established collaborative approach between City, State, watershed residents, environmental groups and regulators • Signed in 1997 • Allowed City to proceed with Watershed Regulations, Land Acquisition and Partnership Programs • City had to agree to fund programs

  9. Contractual Arrangements • DEP contracted with local public, private and non-profit entities to use City ratepayer funding to implement programs • Groups include Catskill Watershed Corporation, Agricultural Council and county agencies • All contracts subject to City procurement rules

  10. Catskill Watershed Corporation • MOA created the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) • CWC comprised of local representatives • Voting rights apportioned based on percent of land in watershed • CWC provided with $160+ million of City funding for wastewater, stormwater and economic development programs

  11. How is Watershed Protection Funded? • DEP is funded by water and sewer rates • Revenues and expenses are managed by the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority, an independent entity established in 1984 • Revenues collected by the Water Finance Authority are independent from other NYC funding and cannot be diverted to other NYC programs • The Water Finance Authority collected $1.7 billion in 2004. $900 million of this was used for water supply operations and debt service

  12. Water & Sewer Rate Structure • Water rate = $1.65 per 100 cubic feet • Average single-family house pays about $220/year for water • Sewer rate = $2.62 per 100 cubic feet • Consumption decreased by nearly one-third since 1980s due to conservation • NYC rates are lower than most major US cities including Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington, Boston and Atlanta

  13. Watershed Protection Program

  14. Types of Watershed Protection Programs • Protection Programs – Designed to prevent future degradation of water quality; large scale and evaluated over the long-term. • Remediation Programs – Designed to address specific problems and are expected to result in measurable decreases in pollutants; small scale and evaluated over the short-term.

  15. Stormwater Controls WWTP Upgrades Sewer Extensions Septic System Rehabilitation Salt & Sand Storage Stream Corridor Protection Watershed Rules & Regulations Land Acquisition Agricultural Programs Forestry Management Watershed Protection ProgramsRemedial Protective

  16. Major Watershed Protection Program Elements • Land Acquisition Program • More than 385,000 acres (156,000+ hectares) solicited • 68,000+ acres (27,660+ hectares) acquired/under contract • 21,000+ acres (8,565+ hectares) under contract for Agricultural Easements

  17. Major Watershed Protection Program Elements •  Partnership Programs • 2,000+ failing septic systems remediated • Nearly 50 stormwater retrofits funded • 44 stormwater BMPs installed • Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) being upgraded to tertiary treatment (25 WOH, ~70 EOH) • 7 new WWTPs being constructed • Watershed Agricultural Program • 2900+ Best Management Practices (BMPs) implemented • 1,775 miles (2,857 km) of stream buffers protected through Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program • New initiatives on small farms and EOH farms

  18. Grommeck Farm During Construction

  19. Following Best Management Practice (BMP) Implementation

  20. One year after BMP Implementation

  21. Major Watershed Protection Program Elements • Watershed Rules and Regulations • Updated in 1997 to address WWTPs, septic systems and stormwater runoff • Designed to protect sensitive areas: streams, wetlands, reservoirs and steep slopes • 1,000s of projects reviewed to date • Coordinated field inspection and patrol with Engineering and NYCDEP Police • City funds most costs of compliance

  22. DELAWARE RESERVOIR BASIN • Heavy agricultural uses • 4 large wastewater treatment plants • Excessive nutrient loading to reservoir led to eutrophication

  23. Watershed Protection Provides Results

  24. What does watershed protection cost?

  25. Thank You

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