Transcript 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

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
Presentation Outline
 Development of NYC’s Watershed Protection
Program
 Costs and Funding
 Contractual Mechanisms Supporting
Watershed Protection
 Major Program Elements
 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Watershed Protection Program
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.
Watershed Protection Programs
Remedial
Protective
Stormwater Controls
WWTP Upgrades
Sewer Extensions
Septic System
Rehabilitation
 Salt & Sand Storage
 Stream Corridor
Protection




 Watershed Rules &
Regulations
 Land Acquisition
 Agricultural
Programs
 Forestry
Management
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
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
Grommeck Farm During Construction
Following Best Management Practice (BMP) Implementation
One year after BMP Implementation
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
DELAWARE RESERVOIR BASIN
 Heavy agricultural uses
 4 large wastewater treatment plants
 Excessive nutrient loading to reservoir led to eutrophication
Watershed Protection
Provides Results
Cannonsville Reservoir
TP (ug/l)
30
20
10
0
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
What does watershed protection cost?
Program
Cost
New Infrastructure Program (1st 7 communities)
$96,664,016
Community Wastewater Program (5 communities)
$10,000,000
Septic Rehabilitation & Maintenance Programs
$30,100,000
Sewer Extension Program
$10,000,000
Wastewater Plant Upgrades (non-City-owned)
$272,000,000
Wastewater Plant Upgrades (City-owned)
$271,000,000
Alternate Design Septic System Program
$3,000,000
Stormwater Retrofits
$15,175,000
Future Stormwater Controls
$31,700,000
Farms & Forestry
$91,000,000
Land Acquisition (includes farm easements)
$295,000,000
Stream Management Program
$28,000,000
Kensico Water Quality Protection Program
$43,000,000
East of Hudson Non-Point Source Control Program
$68,000,000
Miscellaneous Programs - CFF, Good Neighbor, etc.
$97,300,000
Catskill/Delaware UV Plant
$670,000,000
Total
$2,031,939,016
Thank You