All posts by admin

September 22nd: Kayak Tour of tidal Esopus

Saturday, September 22

Kayak Tour of the Tidal Lower Esopus – 9:30AM – 1PM

As part of Ulster County Creek Week, Riverkeeper and the Lower Esopus Watershed Partnership, with TrailCross.com and Kenco are hosting a kayak tour of the tidal Lower Esopus Creek. The tour is suitable for those who have experience in a kayak.

Learn about the natural history and environmental issues facing the Lower Esopus Creek, with Riverkeeper’s Watershed Program Director Kate Hudson, naturalist Richard Parisio and other experts. The tour will include the tidal Lower Esopus creek, as well as a tour of the Saugerties Lighthouse. Riverkeeper has been working protect the creek from muddy discharges from the Ashokan Reservoir, and to test water quality as part of our Hudson River water quality study.

A limited number of kayaks, paddles and life preservers will be provided free of charge by TrailCross.com and Kenco. RSVP to Dan Shapley at dshapley@riverkeeper.org to reserve a spot on the trip and request equipment. Rentals are also available from Kencoand Saugerties Marina. If you bring your own kayak, be sure to bring all necessary paddling and safety equipment as well. Everyone should pack a snack or lunch, water and sun protection. Meet at Tina Chorvas Park, East Bridge Street, Saugerties, N.Y.

This event is part of Ulster County Creek Week, September 15-23.
For a complete list of activities please visit:
http://ucenvironment.org/ulster-county-creek-week/

September 15th: Muddy Waters! presentation in Marbletown

Saturday September 15th

Muddy Waters! Ashokan Reservoir Releases into the Lower Esopus Creek – 9:30-11:30AM

The Marbletown Environmental Conservation is hosting a dynamic presentation on the environmental impact and legal status of the Ashokan Reservoir releases into the Lower Esopus Creek. Whether you live nearby the creek, use it for recreation, or are just plain concerned, this presentation will provide you with the latest information in order to understand and act on this complex issue. Presenters will include: Ulster County Department of the Environment, Riverkeeper, and the Lower Esopus Watershed Partnership.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration begins at 9AM. Location is the Marbletown Community Center, Route 209, Stone Ridge. For additional information, contact the Marbletown Environmental Conservation at marbletownecc@yahoo.com.

This event is part of Ulster County Creek Week, September 15-23.
For a complete list of events/activities please visit their website:
http://ucenvironment.org/ulster-county-creek-week/

NYSDEC reaches draft order with NYC to reduce impacts of turbidity

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation released the following statement:

NYSDEC REACHES DRAFT ORDER WITH NYC TO REDUCE THE IMPACTS OF TURBIDITY IN CATSKILL WATER SYSTEM

Public Information Session on Draft Order and Interim Protocol Set for June 19

A draft consent order to reduce the impacts of turbidity and manage reservoir releases to improve water supply, water quality and habitat, and provide flood mitigation in the New York City watershed and the Lower Esopus was reached by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, DEC Commissioner Joe Martens announced today. The draft consent order provides measures with a goal of decreasing the need for aluminum sulfate to be used in the Catskill Water Supply System.

A public 45-day comment period on the draft order and the Ashokan Reservoir Interim Protocol for water release management will run through July 2. A public information session on both the draft order and the Interim Protocol will be held June 19 at SUNY New Paltz. Comments will be reviewed and considered in the development of the final order and revised Interim Protocol.

“The draft order with New York City provides concrete actions to improve water quality, habitat and flood mitigation in the Catskill Water System,” DEC Commissioner Martens said. “The City’s commitment to implement the requirements of the order is a major step to reduce the impacts of turbidity in area waterways. The Interim Protocol offers a path to protect the watershed until a more complete set of improvements can be considered and implemented. The Interim Protocol proposed a way to protect New people and address community and environmental impacts. DEC wants to hear from stakeholders on how we can improve this protocol.”

“As one of only five large cities issued a Filtration Avoidance Determination by the EPA, New York City has clearly made substantial investments to ensure that our water supply system continues to provide clean, safe drinking water to over nine million residents and that commitment includes reducing the effects of turbidity in the Catskill watershed,” said New York City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Carter Strickland. “Working diligently with watershed communities, the Department of Environmental Conservation and DEP developed rigorous guidelines for operating the Ashokan Release Channel to reduce the impacts of turbidity and flooding. We are pleased that this agreement solidifies the Interim Protocol, and look forward to the results of the comprehensive analysis we will undertake during the Environmental Impact Statement process.”

Under the draft order, the City will be required to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to analyze alternative methods and potential significant adverse impacts of operating the Catskill Water Supply System. The EIS will consider various options to reduce the impacts of turbidity including the continued use of aluminum sulfate, releases using the Interim Protocol and options to discharge water from various points along the Catskill Aqueduct, including the Hudson River, prior to its reaching the Kensico Reservoir. The draft order also requires the City to deliver the draft scope for the EIS to DEC within 60 days after the consent order is effective. DEC will issue the draft scope for public comment. The draft EIS is required to be completed within 18 months after DEC issues a final scope and the draft Final EIS by a date determined by DEC. In addition, the draft order:

requires the City to adhere to the Interim Protocol for releasing water from the Ashokan Reservoir to the Lower Esopus Creek and a Water Quality Monitoring Plan in the Ashokan Watershed which are expected to result in a reduction in the impact of turbid discharges and protection of habitat in the Lower Esopus Creek. The City is required to comply with the Interim Protocol and Monitoring Plan until a Final Protocol is developed through a full public process and incorporated into the modified Catalum SPDES Permit;

establishes a schedule for removal of alum particulate from the Kensico Reservoir by June 2024 when major capital infrastructure projects are complete;

establishes a deadline of December 2012 for the City to propose two turbidity-reduction projects on the Upper Esopus Creek and commits the City to allocate $750,000 to fund these projects; and

requires the City to pay a Civil Penalty of $1.55 million of which $100,000 is payable; $500,000 is suspended pending timely completion of the infrastructure and alum particulate removal projects; and $950,000 is provided in escrow to EFC to fund environmental benefit projects which include:

  • $350,000 for two stream gauges on the Lower Esopus;
  • $200,000 to develop a stream management plan for the Lower Esopus;
  • $330,000 to implement the recommendations of the Lower Esopus stream management plan;
  • $60,000 for a technical review consultant to advise the Ashokan Releases Working Group; and
  • $10,000 for fish stocking in the Lower Esopus.

establishes a schedule for the modification of the Catalum SPDES Permit; and
establishes that DEP has consented to DEC as the lead agency in the SEQRA EIS process for the Catalum SPDES Permit modification and a range of associated issues.

The consent order can be viewed at: http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/79771.html.

In October, DEC released an Interim Protocol for releases from the Ashokan Reservoir. More information on the Interim Protocol can be found at:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/79980.html.

DEC’s public information session on both the draft order and Interim Protocol will include presentations by DEC staff. Comments will be accepted at the information session in writing and verbally as time permits. The meeting will be held from 6 pm to 8 pm on June 19 at:

SUNY New Paltz
1 Hawk Drive
Lecture Center – Room 100
New Paltz, NY

Comments may be submitted by July 2 via email, ashokan@gw.dec.state.ny.us, or by
mail to:

NYSDEC
Division of Water, Bureau of Water Resource Management
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233

Water transfer from Schoharie to Ashokan, concerns about water availability

The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation put out the following statement:

DEC today authorized the release of water from Schoharie Reservoir through the Shandaken Tunnel to Ashokan Reservoir. With the state facing potential drought conditions this spring and summer, this action will reduce the loss of water from the NYC water supply system. While reservoir levels themselves are normal at this time, NYCDEP staff is concerned about other factors that could limit the availability of water to the NYC system in the future. The current low stream flows, lack of snowpack, early bloom of vegetation and projected long-term forecasts of high temperatures may increase the probability of shortfalls in water availability later in the year. Water is not presently being released from the Ashokan Reservoir to the Lower Esopus Creek, except for a small conservation release. Current projections are that water transferred from the Schoharie Reservoir will be contained within the Ashokan Reservoir and not result in additional releases into the Lower Esopus. The release of water from the Schoharie Reservoir will help assure the reliability of the water supply to continue to serve NYC and the upstate communities.

The NYC Department of Environmental Protection provided the following supplemental information with the DEC statement:

We have increased the Catskill Aqueduct diversion to 500 mgd to Kensico. Ashokan water quality continues to improve. We are going to move some more water from Schoharie to Ashokan but not enough to put us over the CSSO [Conditional Seasonal Storage Objective]. We dropped to the minimum release rate [10 mgd] IAW the Interim Protocol almost two weeks ago and intend to stay there. Turbidity of the release is now in the low teens and will continue to improve. We have also increased the diversion from Schoharie to Ashokan. Currently at 345 mgd and 18 ntu.

Esopus Creek turbidity in the news

Turbid releases from Ashokan Reservoir have made headlines in Ulster County for the past year-and-a-half since the NYC Department of Environmental Protection reopened the release channel into the Lower Esopus Creek. Now, the dumping of turbid water has garnered attention in New York City, the beneficiary of the turbid releases in the form of clean drinking water. Writing for the New York Times, Mireya Navarro focuses on how the turbid releases exacerbate the century-old upstate-downstate tensions over the city’s water supply. She writes that long-standing disputes over DEP’s operations in Ulster County have reached a “tipping point.” Read the full article: Muddying of Beloved Creek Is Last Straw for Neighbors of a City Reservoir. Navarro also posted a blog entry about the issue at the NYTimes.com Green Blog: Upstate vs. Downstate: A Slow Boil Over Water Issues.