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Managing Watersheds to Assure Safe and Clean Water Supplies

The Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) in New York State has a two-part mission-to preserve the quality of the water destined for New York City and its suburbs, and to preserve the viability of communities in the City's upstate watershed. In the Catskill region, about 72,000 individuals live year-round or seasonally in small towns. Geographically, it is mountainous with river valleys where six giant reservoirs collect most of the water bound for the taps of nine million people-half the state's population.

The CWC, which receives the bulk of its funding from New York City under a landmark partnership agreement signed in 1997, helps residents replace failed septic systems, provides funds for storm water controls and assists hamlets in developing community wastewater treatment solutions. Some parcels of land adjacent to water cannot support conventional septic systems, so the CWC is researching innovative systems like those using aerobic treatment, peat filters and sand filters. Storage facilities for road de-icing materials such as sand and salt were constructed in 36 towns under another CWC program. A new program provides area communities with grants to develop comprehensive planning, zoning, highway maintenance, open space requirements and other environmental protection measures. A new septic tank is lowered into place at a Catskill home. Photo courtesy of Catskill Watershed Corporation

As part of the 1997 agreement in which New York City was given a waiver to avoid building a filtering system for its Catskill-Delaware water supply, the City has purchased thousands of acres of land that will remain forever vacant. To mitigate the economic and tax impact of those purchases, and of stricter land use regulations imposed on the Watershed by New York City, the CWC also provides loans to environmentally responsible businesses and supports regional tourism initiatives. Since 1998, $20 million has been loaned to create or retain hundreds of local jobs.

Nearly $1 million in Watershed Education grants have also gone to schools and organizations in the Catskill-Delaware Watershed and in New York City. "These projects are teaching the next generation of stewards and consumers about this critical resource and how to protect and conserve it," explained CWC Executive Director Alan Rosa.

The Top of Alabama Regional Council of Governments (TARCOG) worked with local interest groups to complete the West Fork Little River Sub-Watershed Study in 2005, and will continue the study further downstream in 2006. Funding comes from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. The sub-watershed crosses several jurisdictions, originating in Georgia, flowing into Alabama through state park and national preserve lands and bordering the small city of Fort Payne (population 13,000). Water quality is an important issue for the Little River watershed. Photo courtesy of Top of Alabama RCOG

The study discovered several issues having an impact on the region's water quality, including sedimentation and contamination from failing septic systems. Using the results of the study, TARCOG developed several recommendations including controlling erosion and sediment through land conservation and the creation of buffer zones around the West Fork of the Little River. Creating a greenway adjacent to the water may be one way to introduce a buffer zone into the area.

Buffers can be adopted into city or county ordinances by specifying a setback, or a distance from rivers or streams where development cannot occur. Establishing buffer zones might protect a natural mature forested area from encroachment or provide local groups with an opportunity to develop swales of native plants that retain green space in an urbanizing corridor. By providing a space through which water is filtered before it enters a waterway, pollution and sediment that degrade water quality can be minimized.

Catskill Watershed Corporation P.O. Box 569 Margaretville, NY 12455 Tel: 845.586.1400 Fax: 845.586.1401 http://www.cwconline.org/

Top of Alabama Regional Council of Governments 5075 Research Dr, NW Huntsville, AL 35805 Tel: 256.830.0818 Fax: 256.830.0843 http://www.alarc.org/tarcog/