Management of New York Citys Watershed Michael A

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 Ø Development of NYC’s Watershed Protection Program Ø Costs and Funding Ø Contractual Mechanisms Supporting Watershed Protection Ø Major Program Elements

Ø Primarily a surface water supply Ø 19 reservoirs & 3 controlled lakes Ø System Capacity: 550 billion gallons (over 2 billion kiloliters) Ø Serves 9 million people (1/2 of population of New York State) Ø Delivers approx. 1. 2 billion gallons (4. 5 million kiloliters) per day to the City Ø Source of water is a 2, 000 square mile (5, 180 square kilometer) watershed in parts of 8 upstate counties Ø Operated and maintained by NYCDEP

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

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

Issues Driving City to Watershed Protection Ø The Safe Drinking Water Act of 1986 and the Surface Water Treatment Rule of 1989 established objective and subjective criteria for avoidance Ø Concern over whether City could meet subjective criteria • City owned less than 8% of watershed • City regulations outmoded Ø City alarmed by potential cost of filtration plant (originally estimated at $4 -8 billion) Ø 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 Ø DEP received first filtration waiver from EPA in 1993 Ø Waiver conditioned on implementation of protection programs Ø DEP designed comprehensive monitoring program to assess threats to water quality Ø Based on assessment of threats, management programs designed and implemented

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

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

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

How is Watershed Protection Funded? Ø DEP is funded by water and sewer rates Ø Revenues and expenses are managed by the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority, an independent entity established in 1984 Ø Revenues collected by the Water Finance Authority are independent from other NYC funding and cannot be diverted to other NYC programs Ø 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 Ø Water rate = $1. 65 per 100 cubic feet Ø Average single-family house pays about $220/year for water Ø Sewer rate = $2. 62 per 100 cubic feet Ø Consumption decreased by nearly one-third since 1980 s due to conservation Ø 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 Ø Protection Programs – Designed to prevent future degradation of water quality; large scale and evaluated over the long-term. Ø 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 Ø Salt & Sand Storage Ø Stream Corridor Protection Ø Ø Ø Watershed Rules & Regulations Ø Land Acquisition Ø Agricultural Programs Ø Forestry Management

Major Watershed Protection Program Elements Ø 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 Ø 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 Ø 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 Ø 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, 000 s of projects reviewed to date • Coordinated field inspection and patrol with Engineering and NYCDEP Police • City funds most costs of compliance

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

Watershed Protection Provides Results

What does watershed protection cost? Program Cost New Infrastructure Program (1 st 7 communities) $96, 664, 016 Community Wastewater Program (5 communities) $10, 000 Septic Rehabilitation & Maintenance Programs $30, 100, 000 Sewer Extension Program $10, 000 Wastewater Plant Upgrades (non-City-owned) $272, 000 Wastewater Plant Upgrades (City-owned) $271, 000 Alternate Design Septic System Program $3, 000 Stormwater Retrofits $15, 175, 000 Future Stormwater Controls $31, 700, 000 Farms & Forestry $91, 000 Land Acquisition (includes farm easements) $295, 000 Stream Management Program $28, 000 Kensico Water Quality Protection Program $43, 000 East of Hudson Non-Point Source Control Program $68, 000 Miscellaneous Programs - CFF, Good Neighbor, etc. $97, 300, 000 Catskill/Delaware UV Plant $670, 000 Total $2, 031, 939, 016

Thank You