Lana Bellamy

lBellamy@th-record.com

CITY OF NEWBURGH — The watershed surrounding City of Newburgh water sources was given a score of 15 percent out of 100 by Riverkeeper in a newly developed study that was presented Thursday to the Newburgh City Council.

It seems like a dismal score, but it is not as low as Councilwoman Karen Mejia expected.

“I’m surprised it’s even at 15 percent,” she said during the council’s work session. “I thought it would be less than 10 percent.”

Riverkeeper is an environmentally-focused organization that advocates for the protection of the Hudson River and its watershed. The organization’s Drinking Water Quality Program Director Dan Shapley, along with the city’s Engineer Jason Morris and Water Superintendent Wayne Vradenburgh, presented a draft report of findings for the drinking water source protection score card.

The study focused on questions about water source classifications and evaluating strategies in place to protect drinking water sources, keeping in mind the PFAS contamination found in Washington Lake in 2016.

For example, one question asks if all streams in the watershed are accurately classified to protect drinking water.

“In the City of Newburgh’s instance, the answer is no,” Shapley said, noting that some streams and wetlands that produce runoff that flows into drinking water sources are misclassified.

Another question asks if the state has promulgated local watershed rules and regulations for the city’s water supply, which it has, but the rules are outdated, Shapley said.

He said the city’s watershed protections were developed in the 1930s and 1940s, at a time when modern synthetic chemicals were not widely used and development seen today did not exist.

Newburgh is currently drawing water from the Brown’s Pond reservoir. In a few days, the city should be able to switch back to drawing from New York City’s Catskill Aqueduct, Vradenburgh said.

The land surrounding the city’s watershed is split between neighboring municipalities.

Boundary restrictions and home-rule laws sometimes keep the city from having a stake in development decisions in proximity to its watershed.

Shapley said New York City sets an example for how to create rules and regulations that give it authority to protect watershed lands outside its jurisdiction.

He hopes Newburgh can use New York City as a model for developing its own watershed rules.

City Council members were asked to consider endorsing the study’s recommendations for watershed protections through a resolution.

“I think we really need to move on this because regardless of the water contamination, but even more so because of the water contamination, we need to continue to move these kinds of protections forward,” Mejia said.

lbellamy@th-record.com