MORE WATER RELEASED INTO RIVER
Reservoir letdown may help ease Delaware flooding.
Friday, October 05, 2007
BY ANDREW KITCHENMAN- The Times of Trenton

TRENTON | New York City began releasing more water into the Delaware River from its upstate reservoirs this week.

As a result of a plan approved by the city and the four states bordering the river, up to 1.5 billion gallons of water per day may be released from the reservoirs.

That sounds like a wall of water, particularly when compared with the 2.6 billion gallons of water that flow past Trenton on a typical day this time of year.

Although fishing enthusiasts are buoyed by the plan, flood-weary residents think the reservoirs can be better managed.

The debate over future river floods comes amid several dry months in parts of the river basin. The reservoirs are now at 62 percent capacity, after spending nearly all of 2006 at 100 percent.

Specifically, New York City and the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware have agreed on an interim plan to release water from the three reservoirs based on the level of the reservoir and the time of year.

While the plan was put into effect Monday, it won't be finalized until the Delaware River Basin Commission holds hearings and writes rules to enforce it.

Residents along the river were devastated by major floods in September 2004, April 2005 and June 2006. Groups such as the Delaware Riverside Conservancy have demanded that the Cannonsville, Pepacton and Neversink reservoirs be kept below 80 percent of their capacity all of the time. Residents submitted 12,000 signatures asking for that level at a meeting last week.

While the new "flexible flow" plan likely would increase the amount of water released at certain times of the year, it wouldn't maintain the year-round limits supported by residents.

"I think they do a very poor job," Belvidere resident Elaine Reichart said of New York City's releases of the water.

She accused city officials of intentionally drawing more water from the reservoirs to artificially create drought conditions. New York City also draws from the Hudson River.

However, DRBC and federal officials attributed the relatively low reservoir levels to dry weather in recent months.

While the new program will increase reservoir releases, the releases will continue to be based on a 1954 Supreme Court decree that provides drinking water for New York City as well as downriver communities stretching from Easton to Philadelphia. Without enough flow from the river, saltwater creeps up to the freshwater intakes that supply Philadelphia.

New York City won't lower the level to the amount sought by flood victims, with officials saying that it would increase the risk of a drought.

DRBC spokesman Clarke Rupert said that flood mitigation is only one of several goals of the new program, which also is designed to simulate a more natural, seasonal flow of water.

The New York Times contributed to this report. Contact Andrew Kitchenman at akitchenman@njtimes.com or 609-989-5706.