Views from the Watershed

Most New York City residents don't know where their water comes from (except from out of the tap!) Your tour guide, Lize Mogel, gives a little bit of the backstory to NYC's drinking water, 90% of which comes from the Catskills, 100+ miles from the City. New York City and the Catskills are physically and socially connected by water, but their relationship has a complicated history...

As New York City grew, so did its need for clean water. So city leaders decided to tap the Esopus Creek in the Catskills. The construction of the Catskills System— the Ashokan and Schoharie reservoirs and the Catskill Aqueduct— displaced thousands of people through eminent domain, uprooting tight-knit rural communities and causing generational bitterness towards the City. This episode features historian Diane Galusha, author of Liquid Assets: A History of New York City's Water System. (Episode recorded in 2021)

The NYC water supply is enormous! It serves 9.5 million people every day, and has a capacity of 570 billion gallons. That's the equivalent of 2,059 Empire State Buildings full of water! NYC's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) owns, operates, and manages the water supply, with a little help from their friend, gravity. This episode features Adam Bosch, the former DEP Director of Public Affairs for the NYC water supply. (Episode recorded in 2021)

A DEP Commissioner, a Catskillian, and a bunch of lawyers walk into a bar... 

The 1990s were a turning point for the relationship between the Catskills and NYC. The Clean Water Act changed the way the City needed to manage its water supply, so they tried to impose stringent regulations on the watershed. Catskillians were having none of that! As watershed towns got together and organized, a new DEP Commissioner came to town with a very different approach from her predecessors. A pitcher of beer broke the ice, and the rest is history. This episode features two people who were in the "room where it happened": Marilyn Gelber, DEP Commissioner from 1994-1996, and Alan Rosa, former Executive Director of the Catskill Watershed Corporation. (Episode recorded in 2021)

The Catskills are considered to be the birthplace of fly fishing in the US. Here, fishing can be an occupation, a lifeline, or a hobby. Anglers (and fish too!) are important stakeholders in the watershed—NYC's control over the water in Esopus Creek and other rivers, and the fishing community's needs for clear, cold water are deeply intertwined. This episode features angler and fishing guide Todd Spire. (Episode recorded in 2021)

There’s a lot of water in the Catskills! Flooding is a constant threat, made worse by climate change, and most of the businesses in downtown Boiceville will eventually have to move because of it. A vacant lot is a marker of the profoundly tough choices the town has to make in planning for future flooding. This episode features Aaron Bennett, Flood Hazard Mitigation Coordinator with the NYC DEP. (Episode recorded in 2021)

Sediment, turbidity, and riparian buffers, oh my! There's a lot that can happen in a stream on its way to becoming NYC's drinking water. Watershed managers have re-engineered part of Stony Clove Creek so that it's cleaner and clearer...and doesn't flood downtown Phoenicia anymore. This episode features Tim Koch, Stream Educator and Hydrologist with the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program (AWSMP) and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County. (Episode recorded in 2021)

The workers who built the NYC water system over 60 years are an invisible part of this massive infrastructure project. It's a personal story, as much as it is a public works story. This episode features historian Diane Galusha, and Dan Underwood, who worked in the Delaware system tunnels. 

NYC’s water infrastructure is kind of like your household plumbing, but a lot bigger. What happens though, when, like your household plumbing, it springs a leak or needs to be replaced? This episode features Adam Bosch, former DEP Director of Public Affairs for the NYC water supply. (Episode recorded in 2021)

Dairy farming is hard. In the 1990s, new watershed regulations would have made it even harder, if not impossible. Farmers pushed back, organized and eventually collaborated with the City to come up with a plan that would benefit everyone-- the City would pay farmers to modernize, and farmers would be able to keep cow poop out of the water. This episode features Fred Huneke, retired dairy farmer. (Episode recorded in 2021)

You are surrounded by forest just about everywhere you go in the Catskills. The forest is a kind of infrastructure, one that's been shaped, used, and managed, for thousands of years, by humans. This episode features forest historian Mike Kudish, watershed forest stewardship educator Jessica Alba, forest management professor René Germain, and DEP forestry program manager Charlie Laing.

In 2011 Hurricane Irene roared through the Catskills "like a fire hose going through an anthill." But yet, the Catskills persisted. The story of Hurricane Irene is one of devastation and resilience. It also illuminates the complicated relationship between human development, water infrastructure, and natural forces. This episode features Catskills journalists Lissa Harris and Tim Knight, who covered Irene. (Episode recorded in 2021)

Hurricane Irene raised concerns about the Gilboa Dam and the ability of water infrastructure to manage the massive amounts of water produced by large storms. How the DEP is preparing for the impacts of climate change in our future. This episode features Adam Bosch, former DEP Director of Public Affairs for the NYC water supply. (Episode recorded in 2021)

New York City needed more water, so it set out to tap the Delaware River (much to New Jersey's dismay!). The construction of the Pepacton Reservoir, which was completed in the mid-50s, and the displacement that it entailed, are still within the living memory of this part of the Catskills. This episode features historian Diane Galusha; Adam Bosch, former DEP Director of Public Affairs for the NYC water supply; and historian and grave restorer Marianne Greenfield. (Episode recorded in 2021)

NYC owns a lot of land and water in the Catskills. You can walk (or paddle) on some of it because people advocated for that access, and did the work to build paths through it. Just watch out for snakes in the pond! This episode features trail builder Ann Roberti, board member of the Catskill Mountain Club. (Episode recorded in 2021)

The Pepacton Cemetery is a remote and resonant place. Like all cemeteries, it’s a marker of loss-- not just the loss of individual people, but of entire communities that were displaced to build the water system. This episode features historian and grave restorer Marianne Greenfield. (Episode recorded in 2021)