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Ashokan Reservoir

Old black and white photo showing construction of Olive Bridge Dam for the 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 is accepting comments on the draft consent order (PDF, 654 KB) and the Ashokan Reservoir Interim Protocol (PDF, 48 KB) for water release management. Comments are due by July 2. Comments may be 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 will be held June 19 at SUNY New Paltz. The information session will include presentations by DEC staff. The information session will be held from 6 pm to 8 pm on June 19 at:

SUNY New Paltz
1 Hawk Drive
Lecture Center - Room 100
New Paltz, NY

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.


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