DEP in for fight locally on stream gauges.
Elected officials say NYC's move could threaten public safety, recreation.

By Steve Israel
Times Herald-Record
Posted: March 14, 2009 - 2:00 AM

A day after revelations that tools to prevent local flooding and improve water recreation will be shut by New York City, local officials vowed to keep them open.

Several stream gauges in the Delaware and Hudson river basins, which help measure the volume, height and temperature of water from Port Jervis to Hancock, will fall victim to budget cuts by the Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP, which funds the unmanned gauges, had proposed closing as many as 27 of the more than 50 gauges in the local New York City watershed area. It said Friday that it was closing 22 of them, without specifying which ones.

State Sen. John Bonacic vowed to preserve the gauges, which measure conditions for fishing and canoeing in waters like the Neversink and Delaware rivers.

DEP statement

This is a statement from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection regarding closure of stream gauges:
"DEP currently provides funding to the USGS for an extensive network of approximately 100 stream gauges within and outside of DEP's watershed area. The gauges assist in the operation of the water supply and in the maintenance of necessary reservoir release flows. A small number also provide stream flow and flood forecasting data to the National Weather Service.

As a result of the need to reduce expenditures during this difficult economic time, DEP is reviewing all aspects of its budget, including the support it provides for the gauging network. The results of this analysis indicate that many of the gauges no longer serve the purpose for which they were originally intended. DEP is discontinuing its support for 22 gauges this fiscal year, and will continue to support 74 gauges into 2010. Any reductions in funding will not impact our ability to operate the water supply or to meet our reservoir release obligations.

Of the 22 gauges for which funding will no longer be available this year, only two are National Weather Service flood forecast sites."
- Michael Saucier, director of DEP's public affairs.

"This is such a critical issue, critical to avoid flooding, to public safety and recreational activities necessary in our economic times," said Bonacic, R-C-Mount Hope, who told the DEP the move is "inappropriate" and asked to meet with officials.

The DEP said the proposed cuts won't affect the safety of local residents.

"The gauges that are being cut won't impact the ability for flood forecasts for the Delaware," a spokesman said. "Out of the gauges being cut, only a handful are used for flood forecasting."

Still, the emergency management coordinator of the Delaware River town of Matamoras, Pa., said he's "not happy with this at all. Here we are trying to get more gauges upriver for ice flows and flooding, and they're cutting them down," said Gary Babb.

A meeting Thursday between the U.S. Geological Survey, which operates the gauges and wants them open, and the DEP failed to resolve the issue.

"The ball's out of our court," said Willie Rodriguez of the USGS, who made a counteroffer to keep the gauges open.
sisrael@th-record.com