![]() ![]() Although the subprograms have different structure and administration, pollutant mitigation goals, and operational objectives, all derive from the 1997 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and subsequent filtration avoidance determinations that outline the suite of actions that NYC DEP must take to comply with the Surface Water Treatment Rule. Since 1997, $2.5 billion have been spent on various subprograms of the Watershed Protection Program, averaging $100 million annually. This report assesses the efficacy and future of NYC’s extensive watershed management activities. Review of the New York City Watershed Protection Program: Statement of Task. The overall Watershed Protection Program has evolved considerably since its inception, and there are now almost two decades of water quality data with which to evaluate the program’s progress. The Statement of Task for the National Academies’ study is found in Box S-1. These elements were comprehensively reviewed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 1999, whose report found the entire program to be “an ambitious and path-breaking program of source water protection.” Eighteen years later, a second National Academies’ review was requested by NYC DEP, which has culminated in this report. In addition, NYC DEP has provided funding for economic and environmental partnership programs with watershed communities. A major element is a Land Acquisition Program through which the City has purchased land in the watershed. The Watershed Protection Program has a variety of technical elements to control potential sources of pollution to the water supply, such as wastewater and stormwater, streambank erosion, and agricultural and forest management activities. Environmental Protection Agency’s Surface Water Treatment Rule. The Watershed Protection Program has allowed the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP), which runs the water supply system, to secure a series of waivers from the filtration requirements of the U.S. This unusual status is made possible by the largely undeveloped, forested condition of the systems’ upstate watersheds and by implementation of NYC’s extensive Watershed Protection Program intended to maintain and enhance the high quality of these surface water sources. The combined Catskill/Delaware portion of the water supply is the largest unfiltered water supply in the United States, with chlorine and ultraviolet disinfection being the primary means of treatment. Approximately 10 percent of NYC’s average daily water demand is supplied by the Croton system, which is now filtered, with the Catskill/Delaware system supplying the remaining 90 percent. The combined water supply system includes 19 reservoirs and three controlled lakes with a total storage capacity of approximately 580 billion gallons. The current system provides about 1 billion gallons of drinking water a day to over 8.5 million people in NYC and about 1 million people living in nearby Westchester, Putnam, Ulster, and Orange counties. Today’s municipal supply comes from the nearby Croton watershed (which began operations in 1842) and the larger and more distant Catskill and Delaware watersheds, put into service during the early 20th century. ![]() For almost 180 years, New York City (NYC) has shown a great deal of foresight to supply safe drinking water to its large population.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |