April 8, 2021

City urges federal regulators to deny preliminary permit for ill-conceived project at Ashokan Reservoir, a vital source of unfiltered drinking water for more than 9 million New Yorkers

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to deny a California company’s request for a preliminary permit to study the feasibility of a pumped-storage hydropower facility connected to Ashokan Reservoir. The City’s comments were filed today with FERC as part of the formal regulatory process.

Ashokan Reservoir is a terminal reservoir within New York City’s unfiltered water supply system, providing approximately 40 percent of the drinking water that sustains more than 9 million people in New York City and 70 communities north of the City. Because Ashokan Reservoir is part of the largest unfiltered water supply in the United States, the reservoir and its watershed lands are subject to greater levels of protection than similar waterbodies throughout the state and the country.

In its comments to federal regulators, DEP said the company’s request for a preliminary permit should be denied outright because it is not in the public interest and not compatible with the City’s operation of an unfiltered drinking water supply. DEP said the proposed hydropower facility would harm water quality at Ashokan Reservoir, interfere with the City’s longstanding efforts to operate and protect the water supply, and disrupt recreation areas that were established more than a century ago.

Download a full copy of DEP’s Comments to FERC.

DEP manages New York City’s water supply, providing more than 1 billion gallons of high-quality water each day to more than 9 million New Yorkers. This includes more than 70 upstate communities and institutions in Ulster, Orange, Putnam and Westchester counties who consume an average of 110 million total gallons of drinking water daily from New York City’s water supply system. This water comes from the Catskill, Delaware, and Croton watersheds that extend more than 125 miles from the City, and the system comprises 19 reservoirs, three controlled lakes, and numerous tunnels and aqueducts. DEP has nearly 6,000 employees, including almost 1,000 scientists, engineers, surveyors, watershed maintainers and other professionals in the watershed. In addition to its $70 million payroll and $168.9 million in annual taxes paid in upstate counties, DEP has invested more than $1.7 billion in watershed protection programs—including partnership organizations such as the Catskill Watershed Corporation and the Watershed Agricultural Council—that support sustainable farming practices, environmentally sensitive economic development, and local economic opportunity. In addition, DEP has a robust capital program with $20.1 billion in investments planned over the next decade that will create up to 3,000 construction-related jobs per year. For more information, visit nyc.gov/dep, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.