The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Department of Design and Construction (DDC) have completed the largest ever expansion of the Staten Island Bluebelt, an artificial wetland system which helps manage stormwater and reduce localized flooding. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has accepted DEP's Certification of Completed Construction for the $5 billion Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrade. NYC tap water was awarded the top prize at the 2017 Regional Tap Water Taste Contest held at the American Museum of Natural History. Water-saving automatic shut-off timers and activation buttons have been installed on 400 spray showers at City playgrounds.
Integral pieces of the $30 million tunnel boring machine (TBM) that will be used to repair a leak in the 85-mile-long Delaware Aqueduct have begun to arrive in Newburgh. Earlier this year, the machine was named Nora after trailblazing suffragist and engineer Nora Stanton Blatch Deforest Barney. 135 young people participated in the 2017 Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) summer internship program. Sheep have been deployed to Rondout Reservoir to help maintain the facility's grassy fields after peviously having been stationed at Neversink Dam.
After 10 years of outreach through the Hydrant Education Action Team (HEAT) program, reports of illegally opened hydrants have fallen by more than 60 percent. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) joined with Council Member Andy King to distribute rain barrels to approximately 100 Bronx homeowners from the Wakefield, Olinville, Edenwald, Eastchester, Williamsbridge, Baychester, and Co-op City neighborhoods. Ground was broken on a project to convert an asphalt schoolyard at JHS 189Q in Flushing, Queens, to a playground with green infrastructure elements.