Ashokan Reservoir
Ashokan Reservoir. View of down-stream face of Olive Bridge dam.
Agreement to Manage Turbidity
DEC and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) have agreed on a consent order to manage turbidity and manage reservoir releases. This will improve water supply, water quality and habitat, and provide flood mitigation in the New York City watershed. The terms of the consent order also decrease the need for aluminum sulfate to be used in the Catskill Water Supply System.
Public Comment Period and Information Session
DEC received comments on the draft consent order (PDF, 654 KB) and the Ashokan Reservoir Interim Protocol (PDF, 48 KB) for water release management during the public comment period which ended July 16, 2012. Comments were submitted by email to ashokan@gw.dec.state.ny.us, or by mail to:
NYSDEC
Division of Water, Bureau of Water Resource Management
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233
A public information session on both the draft agreement and the Interim Protocol was held June 19, 2012 at SUNY New Paltz. The information included presentations by DEC staff.
Interim Protocol
On October 18, 2011, DEC issued an Ashokan Reservoir Interim Protocol (PDF,48 KB) that provides regular water releases from Ashokan Reservoir to support habitat and discharge mitigation releases to increase the likelihood of reservoir voids to attenuate flooding, while limiting operational releases when turbidity levels are high.
This protocol includes a monitoring plan (PDF, 24 KB) describing the measurements to be performed by the NYCDEP.
More about Ashokan Reservoir:
- Ashokan Reservoir Monitoring Plan - describes the measurements to be performed by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.
- Ashokan Reservoir Interim Protocol Fact Sheet - Summary of Ashokan Reservoir Protocol including Community Releases, Discharge Mitigation Releases and Operational Releases.
- Ashokan Reservoir - Photo - Ashokan Reservoir large image
