New York City's Hydro Scheme Threatens Entire Ecosystems

NYC has trashed the Cannonsville Reservoir and the Upper Delaware River. Due to their negligence in installing a hydo turbine on a dam never designed for hydro power, they may have caused serious harm to a drinking water reservoir and the river system it feeds. This river just happens to be the longest free flowing river east of the Mississippi.  The river is home to one of the finest cold water fisheries in the US, and is also a major spawning ground for the imperiled American shad. It is home to the endangered dwaf wedge mussel, and is a major breeding ground for Bald Eagles too.

Their negligence leaves them no choice but to dump 95 billion gallons of drinking water that more than 10 million people depend on. Right now, all looks good for the West Branch & Main Stem with an abundance of cold water flowing down the river. But, this water can come to an all to soon end as the reservoir that feeds the river is prematurely depleted due to New York City's negligence & mismanagement. NYC drinking water is also threatened by a man made artificial drought thanks to NYC misdirected management and gross negligence. 

Already we are seeing the results of this through a table change in the Flexible Flow Management Plan that regulates the discharge from the reservoirs. The incident that's causing the city to drain Cannonsville reservoir has dropped the average storage in the Delaware reservoirs to a level that has has triggered a large reduction in the water flow in the East Branch of the Delaware via Pepacton reservoir. The Mayor & his DEP Commissioner have been eerily silent on this. Their response has been to send their underlings to hold some public meetings in upstate NY towns whose safety has been threatened, never once showing their own faces or making any public statements or acknowledgements that a problem even exists. Unbelievable!

Friends of the Upper Delaware River has been on top of this from the start and is the #1 advocate the river has. Below is an update from them. It would help a lot if you could take a minute and visit their website  www.fudr.org and become a member:

We were informed this morning from personnel working at the Cannonsville Dam that the emergency repair work to address the leak incident may not involve around-the-clock shifts. In the interest of public safety and to salvage what remains of the recreational season below the dams, please give the authorities at NYCDEP a phone call and urge them to accelerate the repair work and stabilize this situation as quickly as possible.

Adam Bosch: 845-334-7868
Paul Rush: 845-340-7800

For the river,

Jeff Skelding, Executive Director
skelding@fudr.org
410-245-8021

We need your help - to become an FUDR member, renew your membership, or make a donation, go to www.fudr.org