Overview of Department of Environmental Protection's recreational boating program at Cannonsville, Neversink, Pepacton, and Schoharie Reservoirs. DEP monitoring reveals that boaters, who are instructed to steam clean their approved watercraft before use, have had no negative impact on water quality. Watershed Agricultural Council opens the Pure Catskills Marketplace, an online market for farm and forest products. United States Environmental Protection Agency awards DEP a Breathe Easy Award for its response to Local Law 77, requiring diesel-powered non-road equipment of 50 horsepower or greater to be equipped with a filter.
Design underway for Catskill Aqueduct Repair and Rehabilitation project, which will comprehensively clean and repair the cut and cover portions of the aqueduct for the first time since their construction. Commissioner Emily Lloyd and Deputy Commissioners Angela Licata and Vincent Sapienza represent Department of Environmental Protection at the United Nations International Conference on Water, Megacities and Global Change.
Commissioner Emily Lloyd announces agency developments to confront stormwater management challenges: Bureaus of Sustainability and Legal Affairs (BLA), Bureau of Water and Sewer Operations (BWSO), Bureau of Water Supply (BWS), and Bureau of Engineering, Design and Construction (BEDC) will each contribute to long-ranging plan. Department of Environmental Protection donates valve actuator from the New Croton Dam to new museum inside former keeper's house at Dobbs Ferry, Westchester County. Retired DEP Police Lieutenant Albert Hick Murphy celebrates his 100th birthday.
Department of Environmental Protection in talks with New York-New Jersey Trail Conference over use of unique structure on Pepacton Reservoir property. The New York Times publishes article on Sponge Park, a $1.5 million pilot project to intercept stormwater and other pollutants that would otherwise enter the Gowanus Canal. Over 600 toys collected in annual Holiday Toy Drive.
Centennial history of the Catskill water supply system, from 1897 to the end of 1915. On December 27, 1915, drinking water was supplied from the watershed surrounding the Ashokan Reservoir to portions of the Bronx, marking the first time that the system was employed for residential use. All five boroughs would eventually receive this water in 1917.
The Employee of the Month program recognizes Department of Environmental Protection staff members that have exhibited outstanding personal effort, and have gone above and beyond the call of duty to serve the people of New York City.
Commissioner Emily Lloyd writes on the challenges facing the Department of Environmental Protection in future years, including climate change, repairs to the Delaware Aqueduct, and reduction of daily water consumption. The expanded Home Water Assistance Program will now provide 52,000 low-income homeowners with an automatic credit on their water bill, up from 12,500 in 2014. The Bureau of Water and Sewer Operations addressed a water condition on Rockland Avenue and Burton Court on Staten Island.
2016 marks the 30th anniversary of the Department of Environmental Protection's Water Resources Art and Poetry Contest, which is open to second through twelfth grade students in New York City and upstate watersheds. Work proceeds on a $30 million project to construct litter control devices along Newtown Creek. Currently four of these below-ground capture devices are being installed by the Bureau of Engineering, Design and Construction. Due to seasonally unusual warmth, robotic monitoring buoys were removed from the Ashokan Reservoir much later than typically occurs.
Sewer infrastructure upgrades are underway in south Queens, including the installation of new interceptor sewers under the Belt Parkway and three hydraulic levees that will increase efficiency for the local network. When these projects are completed, an estimated 300 million additional gallons of wastewater per year will be diverted to the Jamaica Wastewater Treatment Plant. An enclosed receiving tank is also being constructed at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment plant as part of an experimental project with Waste Management and the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority.
Department of Environmental Protection employees worked to ensure critical services remained operational throughout Winter Storm Jonas, which caused more than 30 inches of snowfall in sections of New York City. Activities included regular water testing, repairs and service on water mains, and snow clearance. The 2015 New York City Water Challenge to Restaurants program succeeded in reducing water use by 2.5 million gallons.