Review of the New York City Watershed Protection Program (2020) / Chapter Skim
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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 Watershed Protection Program has allowed the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP)
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The MOA has two overarching goals: protecting the water quality in the reservoirs and ultimately in NYC drinking water and enhancing the vitality of communities in the upstream watersheds. Chapters 1 to 4 discuss the ecological, historical, and cultural antecedents of the watershed; the massive and complex NYC water supply system; and the water quality issues of primary concern.
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Understanding the reasons for temporal patterns of phosphorus inputs to Cannonsville Reservoir and phosphorus concentrations in the reservoir is crucial to preventing eutrophic conditions and harmful algal blooms. Predicted climate changes in the NYC watershed region are likely to have several undesirable effects on reservoir water quality from increased nonpoint source pollution.
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4 Review of the New York City Watershed Protection Program FIGURE S-1 New York City's surface water supply system. Figure in color at https://www.nap.edu/ catalog/25851.
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Encouragement from NYC DEP for manure collection and processing, along with priority cost share for exclusionary fencing of riparian zones and watercourses, will be vital to reducing nutrients and pathogens in a manner consistent with enhancing economic vitality of farming in the watershed. The Watershed Agricultural Council and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection should jointly develop a climate action plan for agriculture that clearly defines potential impacts, proposes actions to mitigate those impacts, and devises an adaptation strategy that ensures that agriculture
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LAND ACQUISITION PROGRAM The Land Acquisition Program, through which NYC DEP purchases land in the Catskill/Delaware watershed from willing sellers, has been critical in complying with the Surface Water Treatment Rule. Reviewed in Chapter 7, land acquisition is meant to prevent activities or development that may harm water quality, generally keeping lands in an undeveloped state or redirecting development to less-sensitive lands.
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Metrics of the Land Acquisition Program should be the amount of land valuable for water quality protection actually preserved, current deleterious activities eliminated, or future potential ones prevented from occurring. NYC DEP's watershed models should be harnessed to assess which lands are more likely to be sources of pollutant loading.
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NYC DEP's Stormwater Program relies on standard design criteria used nationally by municipalities and acceptable to federal and state environmental protection agencies. The following recommendations are aimed at helping NYC DEP better evaluate the Stormwater Program to more directly assess program impacts on water quality.
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For example, if reservoirs or tributaries exceed regulatory limits for fecal or total coliforms, or are designated as coliform-restricted, NYC DEP should use Microbial Source Tracking studies to identify sources, determine the relative importance of anthropogenic versus animal sources, and inform control strategies within the Watershed Agricultural Program, the Septic System Program, and the Stormwater Program. The Waterfowl Management Program has demonstrated effectiveness at reducing fecal coliform bacteria loads to reservoirs from waterbirds and other wildlife.
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From page 10... ...
Monitoring data related to water quality and streamflow, along with watershed and reservoir models, are used to varying degrees in evaluations of engineering, water supply operation and design, and program assessments. The most relevant example is the Operations Support Tool, a combined water quantity/water quality model that simulates water availability and quality throughout the NYC water supply system and is used to inform decisions about system operation and planning.
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Programs with greater incremental value include an improved Watershed Agricultural Program, an improved Septic System Program, and the Watershed Forestry Program. This reallocation of funds is based on the seemingly small incremental contributions of the Land Acquisition Program to drinking water quality and its negative effects on community vitality, compared with the likely improvements to water quality from additional resources provided to these other programs.
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