Not Quite A Done Deal Yet

KJ, DEC spar over aqueduct tap
Backup wells' use holding up permit talks

By Chris Mckenna
Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM - 08/29/12

Kiryas Joel's long quest to tap the Catskill Aqueduct now hinges on the state's approval of new wells the village wants to activate to assemble an adequate backup water supply.

With money bonded for the $29 million water project and no further legal obstacles in its way, Kiryas Joel has been pressing state environmental officials for a key permit it needs to connect a bountiful well in Mountainville to the 13.5-mile pipeline it plans to bury beside roads from the village to New Windsor.

The same permit would allow the village to tap a new well within its borders and make greater use of two existing wells in Kiryas Joel.

Village officials expect to qualify to buy up to 2.5 million gallons per day of New York City's aqueduct water, based on their community's 2010 population, and have been trying to cobble together an equivalent backup supply, as the city requires upstate aqueduct users to do in case it must shut down one of its water tunnels for repairs.

Representatives of Kiryas Joel and the state Department of Environment Conservation met at the department's New Paltz office on Aug. 7 to review a draft permit and iron out remaining issues.

One sticking point is the state's proposal to restrict future use of the village's wells by labeling them backup sources once the aqueduct connection is made. In a follow-up letter last week to the DEC's Region 3 director, William Janeway, a lawyer for Kiryas Joel protested that the village should have the option to continue using its wells and might need them to supplement aqueduct water during peak-demand times.

"The Village is entitled to that flexibility," lawyer Michael Sterthous wrote.

According to documents submitted to the DEC, water use in Kiryas Joel averaged 1.6 million gallons per day in 2011, but reached 2.2 million gallons at peak times. Those surges exceeded the 1.9 million daily gallons the village is allowed to draw from its well network.

Water use is especially high before Passover, when residents of the Hasidic Jewish community scrub their homes to prepare for the weeklong holiday. The village brought in 70,000 gallons in water tankers to augment its supply for the most recent Passover in April, Mayor Abe Wieder told Janeway in a May 8 letter.

The village has been planning since 1999 to tap the Catskill Aqueduct to meet the long-term water demands of its growing population, counted at 20,175 in the 2010 census. Orange County sued twice to challenge the environmental review for the project, but dropped the case in 2010 as part of a legal settlement with the village.

Installation of the 24-inch-wide pipeline is expected to take place it two phases. The first would stretch 6.5 miles from Kiryas Joel to an undeveloped parcel beside Route 32 in Mountainville, where the village plans to build a pump station and connect an unused well it says could produce more than 600,000 gallons per day. The path would follow Seven Springs Road, Ridge Road and Route 32 in Woodbury.