Evolving Watershed Management Carter H. Strickland, Jr - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Evolving Watershed Management Carter H. Strickland, Jr Commissioner, New York City Department of Environmental Protection

Brief History of NYC’s Water Supply System 1677 to 1835 • 1677: First public well was dug near an old fort at Bowling Green • 1776: Population reaches 22,000 and a reservoir was constructed in downtown Manhattan • 1800: Manhattan Company sinks a well and pumps water into reservoir • Population continues to grow; well water starts to become polluted and supply becomes insufficient • 1835: City decides to impound water from the Croton River in Westchester County 2

East of Hudson (1835-1911) 1835 to 1911 • 1837: Construction underway on the Old Croton Reservoir, 42 nd Street Reservoir, and connecting tunnels • 1842: Croton water first reaches NYC • 1869: Water demand rises to 77 MGD • 1870: City acquires three controlled lakes in Putnam County • 1891: Construction begins on New Croton Dam to meet 183 MGD demand • 1909: Construction begins on two balancing reservoirs, Kensico and Hillview 3

4 West of Hudson (1907-1965)

5 Grubbing Machine – Ashokan Reservoir

6 Grubbed & Cleared Trees - Ashokan Reservoir

7 Unsanitary Conditions – Esopus Watershed

8 HOOVES Poorly Buried Dead Horse – Esopus Watershed

Old Outhouse – Esopus Watershed • Clearing, privy program, 9

10 New Outhouse – Esopus Watershed

Land Acquisition Program • Since 1997, City has acquired more than 122,000 acres for source water protection • The City only acquires land from willing sellers and pays fair market value • DEP uses scientific criteria to determine which lands to target for land acquisition 11

12 235 acres in Andes, acquired in 2002

13 279 acres in Roxbury, acquired in 2004

Land Acquisition Program: Land Area Contracts by Year 11,728 12,000 11,181 1,293 9,927 3,018 10,000 9,573 9,461 8,614 2,221 7,905 7,845 8,000 3,353 1,771 1,674 4,701 6,965 875 6,859 6,767 4,679 1,870 6,437 5,996 968 387 1,119 1,638 6,000 1,864 1,596 4,977 1,349 2,138 408 2,498 1,397 2,319 4,023 3,851 4,000 7,905 435 2,418 6,939 6,831 519 5,996 5,187 5,076 4,624 4,569 4,542 1,867 2,000 4,023 3,930 3,912 3,477 3,329 2,897 904 2,364 1,867 904 - 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 YTD Total Watershed Agricultural Council - Conservation Easement Conservation Easement 14

Protected Lands by Basin; % of Basin Land Area Total Non-City Pre-MOA 100% 90% 80% 70% 66% 62% 60% 50% 49% 50% 42% 12% 37% 40% 5% 47% 55% 33% 3% 30% 34% 30% 21% 20% 19% 15% 32% 20% 3% 34% 2% 5% 4% 3% 1% 7% 10% 3% 14% 13% 12% 12% 12% 8% 8% 5% 0% Average Cannonsville Pepacton Schoharie Kensico West Branch Rondout Neversink Ashokan 15

16 Surface Water Criteria - Examples

Land Acquisition Priority Areas: Delaware & Catskill 17

Land Acquisition Priority Areas: East of Hudson 18

19 Neversink & Rondout Basins: 1997

20 Neversink & Rondout Basins: 2012

Boyd’s Corner: Protected Land as of 1997 Boyd’s Corner Reservoir West Branch Reservoir 21

Boyd’s Corner: Protected Land as of 2012 Boyd’s Corner Reservoir West Branch Reservoir 22

23 23 Cannonsville Basin Farm and Forestry Farm and Forest Management Plans

Supporting Sustainable Agriculture Before After Through December 2011, DEP has: • Completed 407 Whole Farm Plans completed in total, including 250 large farms, 95 small farms, and 62 East-of-Hudson farms • Installed 6,434 total best management practices at a cost of $42.7 million, including 5,087 on large farms at cost of $35.7 million, 952 on small farms at cost of $3.7 million, and 393 on East-of-Hudson farms at cost of $3.3 million 24

Supporting Sustainable Forestry Through December 2011, DEP has: • Completed 996 Forest Management Plans completed, covering in total 182,713 watershed acres • Completed 311 Forest Road best management projects • Finished 100+ portable bridge projects • Held 250+ professional training workshops for loggers and foresters 25

Climate Change & New York Baseline 2020s 2050s 2080s 1971–2000 Air Temperature 55°F + 1.5 to 3°F + 3 to 5°F + 4 to 7.5°F Precipitation 46.5 in + 0 to 5% + 0 to 10% + 5 to 10% Sea Level Rise NA + 2 to 5 in + 7 to 12 in + 12 to 23 in Source: New York City Panel on Climate Change Rapid Ice-Melt NA + 5 to 10 in + 19 to 29 in + 41 to 55 in Sea Level Rise 26

Stream Management Program Before After Stream Management Program • Stabilizes failing stream beds and banks to prevent erosion • Series of Management Plans and Demonstration Projects underway 50 restoration projects complete o 5 Stream Management Plans complete o • Promotes sound stream protection practices with local partners; community participation key to program success 27

DEP Employment in the Watershed • More than 850 DEP employees work in the watershed, with an average salary of $51,991. • In 2009, DEP paid more than $44 million in salaries to employees working within the eight watershed counties. Average Annual Wages (2009) $90,000 $79,093 $80,000 $70,786 $70,000 $60,000 $51,991 $50,000 $45,527 $37,721 $40,000 $33,542 $32,531 $29,451 $30,000 $22,952 $20,000 $10,000 $0 Greene Sullivan Ulster Schoharie Delaware Putnam DEP Dutchess Westchester County County County County County County Watershed County County Employees 28 28

Retirement Benefits • In 2011, DEP paid more than $8.1 million to 267 retirees currently residing in one of the eight watershed counties. County Number of Retirees Value of Pension Payments Delaware 34 $928,830 Dutchess 22 $743,597 Greene 8 $234,602 Putnam 18 $866,421 Schoharie 1 $24,154 Sullivan 38 $1,029,282 Ulster 64 $1,580,696 Westchester 82 $2,773,316 Total 267 $8,180,900 29 29

DEP Taxes Fund Watershed Schools $25,000,000 $20,000,000 School District Total Tax Levy School District City $15,000,000 Taxes Paid in FY 2011 $10,000,000 $5,000,000 $0 30 30

Greener, Greater City For more information visit www.nyc.gov/dep Follow us on facebook at www.facebook.com/nycwater 31