Water for the Future: Upstate Water Supply Resiliency Project

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is pleased to announce the availability of the Draft Scope of Work for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Water for the Future: Upstate Water Supply Resiliency Project.

The subject of this draft scope and EIS will be comprised of the rehabilitation of the Catskill Aqueduct, WFF Shutdown System Operations, and Inspection and Repair of the RWBT. These components collectively will be referred to as Upstate Water Supply Resiliency in the Draft Scope of Work. The Queens Groundwater Rehabilitation project will be referred to as In-City Water Supply Resiliency and will be the subject of a subsequent environmental review.

Why is This Project Necessary?

Since the 1990s, DEP has been monitoring leaks in the Rondout West Branch Tunnel (RWBT), a portion of the Delaware Aqueduct that connects the Rondout Reservoir in Ulster County to the West Branch Reservoir in Putnam County. These leaks, specifically in the Towns of Newburgh, Orange County, New York and Wawarsing, Ulster County, New York. release between 15 and 35 million gallons of water a day, depending on the amount of water the aqueduct is carrying.

The Water for the Future Program

To repair the leaks, DEP developed the Water for the Future Program (WFF). As part of the program, DEP elected to design, construct, and place into operation a bypass tunnel in the vicinity of the Hudson River and inspect and rehabilitate, as necessary, the remainder of the tunnel. DEP has commenced building the three-mile bypass tunnel around a portion of the aqueduct that is leaking in Roseton in Orange County, New York. The three-mile bypass tunnel will run east from the Town of Newburgh in Orange County, under the Hudson River to the Town of Wappinger in Dutchess County, on the east side of the Hudson. This project was previously evaluated in a FEIS issued on May 18, 2012. A Statement of Findings was issued on June 12, 2012 and documented completion of that component of the WFF environmental review.

Once the tunnel is completed in 2022, the RWBT would be temporarily shut down and drained to connect the bypass tunnel to the existing RWBT and to carry out internal repairs in Wawarsing. DEP estimates that the maximum shutdown duration would be approximately eight months. During this temporary shutdown of the RWBT, water from the Delaware system west of the Hudson River would be unavailable. To ensure the continued supply of clean drinking water during this time, DEP has developed projects and plans comprised of three main components: (1) supply augmentation consisting of rehabilitation of the Catskill Aqueduct and rehabilitation of groundwater supply stations in Queens; (2) WFF Shutdown System Operations, which would allow DEP to rely more heavily on the Catskill and Croton water supply systems during the temporary shutdown; and (3) Inspection and Repair of the RWBT during connection of the bypass tunnel, including decommissioning the bypassed section of the RWBT once the connection is completed.

DEP will hold public meetings for public comment on the Upstate Water Supply Resiliency Draft Scope of Work with informal information and listening sessions taking place one hour prior to the meeting times on:

Thursday, November 13, 2014, at 7:00 PM
Town of Newburgh Town Hall, 1496 Route 300, Newburgh, NY 12550

Friday, November 14, 2014, at 7:00 PM
SUNY Sullivan – Paul Grossinger Dining Room
112 College Road, Loch Sheldrake, NY 12759

Wednesday, November 19, 2014, at 7:00 PM
Ellenville Government Center, 2 Elting Court, Ellenville, NY 12428

Thursday, November 20, 2014 at 7:00 PM
Yorktown Town Hall, Town Board Room
363 Underhill Avenue, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598

The public comment period will remain open until December 5, 2014, and a Final Scope of Work, incorporating changes based on relevant comments received, will be issued.

Please submit written comments on the Draft Scope of Work to:

Jennifer Farmwald, Senior Project Manager
Office of Water Supply Infrastructure and Watershed Assessment
Bureau of Environmental Planning and Analysis
New York City Department of Environmental Protection
59-17 Junction Boulevard, 11 ^th Floor
Flushing, New York 11373

or via email at WFFComments@dep.nyc.gov.

Attachments

• Notice of Intent
• Corrected Environmental Assessment Form with Errata Statement
• Draft Scope of Work

Water for the Future Program: Upstate Water Supply Resiliency Draft Scope of Work Repositories

Town Clerk
Town of Newburgh
1496 Route 300
Newburgh, NY 12550
Contact: Andrew Zarutskie
Phone: (845) 564-4554

Town Clerk
Town of Wawarsing
108 Canal Street ~ PO Box 671
Ellenville, NY 12428
Contact: Roxanne Shamro
Phone: (845) 647-7800

Town Clerk
Town of Yorktown
363 Underhill Avenue
Yorktown Heights, NY 10568
Contact: Alice Roker
Phone: (914) 962-5722

Library
SUNY – Sullivan
112 College Road
Loch Sheldrake, NY 12759
Phone: (845) 434-5750

Queens Public Library
89-11 Merrick Boulevard
Jamaica, NY 11432
Phone: (718) 990-0700

Department of Environmental Protection
59-17 Junction Boulevard, 11th Floor
Flushing, NY 11373
Contact: Jennifer Farmwald
Phone: (718) 595-3287
Email: WFFComments@dep.nyc.gov

Department of Environmental Protection
465 Columbus Avenue
Valhalla, NY 10595
Contact: David Warne
Phone: (914) 742-2099
Email: WFFComments@dep.nyc.gov

Department of Environmental Protection
71 Smith Avenue
Kingston, NY 12401
Contact: Daniel Michaud
Phone: (845) 340-7883
Email: WFFComments@dep.nyc.gov