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Intro to the Delaware River Basin

Learn about the Delaware River Basin, its water management, recreational activities, and its importance to New York City's water supply. Explore the Croton system and its reservoirs. Understand the challenges of water consumption and the history of drought management agreements. Discover our goal of negotiating a better basin management plan for all stakeholders.

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Intro to the Delaware River Basin

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  1. Intro to the Delaware River Basin Megan Wiley Rivera HydroLogics, Inc Sept 13, 2010

  2. Basin-wide water management • (see interactive map) • New York State • Recreation • Trout Fisheries • Flood control • New York City • Water Supply (2 people) • Pennsylvania • Flood control • Lake recreation • Livery (river) recreation • New Jersey • Water Supply • Fisheries • Salt water encroachment • Delaware • Oysters • Floodplains • Dwarf wedgemussels

  3. Croton system • Project began in 1837 • First water reach NYC in 1842 • New Croton River system completed in 1911 • About 10% of present system • Note how the Delaware and Catskill Aqueducts feed into this system

  4. Croton SystemCapacity: 86.6B gallons% of Capacity: 92.1 Neversink ReservoirCapacity: 34.9B gallons% of Capacity: 77.7 Rondout ReservoirCapacity: 49.6B gallons% of Capacity: 93.6 Pepacton ReservoirCapacity: 140.2B gallons% of Capacity: 87.5 Schoharie ReservoirCapacity: 17.6B gallons% of Capacity: 77.2 Cannonsville ReservoirCapacity: 95.7B gallons% of Capacity: 77.2 Ashokan ReservoirCapacity: 122.9B gallons% of Capacity: 77.1 Consumption Consumption Consumption 1.11 1.11 8/24/08 8/24/08 8/24/08 1.1 bg consumed 8/24/2008 http://nyc.gov/html/dep/html/drinking_water/maplevels_wide.shtml

  5. How much water is this? • Total storage = 458.2 bg • Delaware storage = 270.8 bg • One way to think of storage: this is the water to get you through dry times (credit card) • Seasonally • Multi-year droughts • Inflows are more like the water you have to work with (income).

  6. Consent Decree Agreement (1950) • NYC could divert 800 mgd (ave) in exchange for guaranteeing 1750 cfs daily at Montague • Limitations of the Montague target • Hamstrings conjunctive use with lower basin reservoirs • Not tied to any purpose • June 1 reset • Established Delaware River Basin Commission

  7. In drought, there is not enough water • The allocation seems unrealistic both before and after the 60s drought • 800 mgd for NYC • 1750 cfs at Montague • 100 mgd for Northern NJ • To get through the 60’s drought: major water restrictions (water famine), NYC suspended Montague releases, NYC eventually took Hudson water, salt front came within 10 miles of Philadelphia intake

  8. Good Faith Agreement (1982) • After the 1960’s drought, parties negotiated “shorting” schedule • Incentives! • At the beginning of a drought, if NYC uses Delaware water instead of Catskills water, the Montague target is reduced • Catskills reservoirs refill more quickly • June 1 reset discourages conservation

  9. Flexible Flow Management Program • Some improvements (thermal banks for example) • Does not address the major problems • Drought Management Incentives • Montague Target • June 1 reset • Still cannot get through repeat of 1960s drought

  10. Our Charge • We are going to attempt to negotiate a basin management plan that does better for ALL stakeholders than the FFMP • Changes to the FFMP are adopted by consensus only • Compromises may be made within states if necessary • This is doable!

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