From The Walton Reporter (no website), May 12, 2010

On Jan. 19 2010, New York State Oil and Gas industry lobbyist Brad Gill stated that because of gas drilling, Pennsylvania is “thriving with tens of thousands of jobs and tremendous economic vitality.” We must closely scrutinize the widely-held assertion that the economic benefits of unconventional gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale will outweigh its true costs, and balance the ledger with questions that seek to reveal the ‘externalities” of this industry.

Won’t gas drilling bring much needed jobs and ‘economic vitality’ to the region?

Not many jobs have been created after two years of intensive drilling in Pennsylvania, where crews are often brought in with the rigs. New York’s and Pennsylvania’s unemployment rates from 2005 to the present run neck in neck, and the current average weekly wage in New York is $868 compare with $805 for Pennsylvania. At their April 14 meeting, commissioners of Susquehanna County, Pa., a county of intense drilling activity, adopted a resolution designating the county a “Recovery area,” which denotes significant poverty, unemployment, home foreclosures or general distress.

Will gas drilling have any effect on other traditional economic endeavors?

Existing industries such as grapes, wine and other agriculture, tourism, outdoor recreation, hunting and fishing are not only incompatible with, but also threatened by, industrial shale gas drilling. The estimated potential gain of $22 billion from gas drilling in New York State over the next 20 years pales in comparison with the projected gain of $300 billion from these other industries over the same period. A diverse economy will be squeezed out and replaced by a boom and bust economy.

Won’t there be increased tax revenues to municipalities from gas drilling?

While energy boomtowns see revenues increase from gas drilling, it is rarely enough to meet the increased demands on infrastructure, maintenance, and administration. Deprived of local control over gas extraction, municipalities will face new costs without adequate funding of base-line water testing, emergency response, health department monitoring of complaints, tax assessment changes and demands on school systems.

Will the economic benefit to local communities exceed the infrastructure costs of building and repairing roads?

The DEC’s own figures project 715 to 2,615 truck trips per single gas well. From Wyoming and Colorado, through Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Madison County, communities have seen a rise in road repair and infrastructure costs that far exceed the revenues generated by gas drilling. Without adequate bonding, taxes will increase.

Will there be any effect on social services, emergency services, and law enforcement from gas drilling?

Areas of gas drilling activity have experienced increases in crime and drug use; demands on emergency services from chemical spills; fires; accidents on the rig and on the roads; demands oh health care and emergency room services; and requests for housing assistance by non-industry residents.

Will property values be affected by gas drilling?

The HUD handbook states, “A property with a gas or oil lease is therefore not eligible for FHA financing…” and, “No existing dwelling may be located closer than 300 feet from an active or planned drilling site.” This will affect leased as well as adjacent unleased properties. Visions Federal Credit Union, for one, will not give a mortgage loan secured by the property if there is an oil and gas lease on the property. Some insurance companies have either raised premiums or will not insure properties with gas leases, considered business exposures with increased risk of injury.

Won’t landlords enjoy higher rents from gas rig workers?

Yes. And homelessness is on the rise in areas of gas drilling activity, as fixed income residents and those not involved in the industry are squeezed out of affordable housing by industry workers able to pay higher than average rents.

The economic considerations above do not even attempt to address the enormous environmental and health concerns of water, air, and soil pollution from gas-drilling. When the drill rigs roll into town there will be winners and losers, the haves and have-nots, but even the winners will lose.

(Joan Tubridy is a middle school teacher and member of Chenango Delaware Otsego Gas Drilling Opposition Group (CDOG). After two years of intense study of the issue of unconventional gas drilling, CDOG stands firm in its demand for a statewide ban of this practice.)

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The Trail Conference is pleased to announce the new, digitally-produced ninth edition of our Catskill Trails map set has arrived at their office and is now available for purchase!

At $16.95 ($12.71 for Trail Conference members), the Catskill Trails map set is a must-have for anyone who wishes to explore the many trails and protected lands in the Catskill region. The new six-map set can be obtained by shopping on their website (http://www.nynjtc.org/product/catskill-trails-map-set), calling 201-512-9348, or stopping in at the Trail Conference office in Mahwah, NJ. Copies will be sent out to outdoor retail stores and other suppliers as quickly as possible, including the map sponsor Tent & Trails, located in New York City.

If you are interested in learning more about the maps and the Catskills, please visit the Catskill Trails Map webpage (http://catskills.nynjtc.org). A description of the enhancements and improvements to the maps, examples of the maps, and listings of upcoming presentations are included. There is also information about the mapmakers, suggested hikes, park contact information, a complete map index (about 650 features!), and additional resources such as public transportation and campground information.

You are also invited to attend a Launch Party for the map that is being held at Tent & Trails on Tuesday, April 20th from 6-9 PM. Tent & Trails is located at 21 Park Place, New York, New York. The Trail Conference wishes to thank Tent & Trails for their sponsorship and many members of the hiking community who provided input into the final version. Anyone is welcome to attend, refreshments will be served, and there will be an opportunity to acquire the new map set at a discount, so consider stopping by! If you wish to attend, please RSVP by 4/9 to Josh Friedman (Joshua_tenttrails@yahoo.com, 212-227-1760) to help them plan the launch event.

The Trail Conference certainly hope the maps help to enhance your hiking experiences in the wonderful Catskills!

~New York-New Jersey Trail Conference

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I have no idea what this is. The above photo is a close-up. The object is about two inches long. It is not wet or slimy, was stuck to the grass, doesn’t have a smell, feels like soft plastic. I’m sure it is produced by something common. Any ideas?

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Blizzard Day 3 Driveway Drift, originally uploaded by Sandy*S – off to nebraska for a bit.

From The Walton Reporter (no website), March 17, 2010

Here’s a item highlighting rural charm, plucked from the pages of a town’s council meeting report. The photo is from Nebraska.      

Ronald Tippet had requested the town (Harpersfield, NY) highway department continue to plow his driveway, and was upset that the practice had stopped. The town crew had plowed for his uncle, Ronald MacDonald, but after MacDonald’s death in November the town had stopped plowing. This arrangement goes back to a “gentleman’s agreement” made in 1946. At that time, when the town had to widen a road, it would ask a landowner for permission, and in exchange would plow his driveway. Over the years these agreements have expired as the original landowners have died or moved. Eisel checked the pertinent deeds but found nothing in writing. The board agreed the town would no longer plow Tippet’s driveway.

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West Kill Spring Scenic 2, originally uploaded by Anton de Flon.

From The Walton Reporter (no website), January 27, 2010

By Glenn Graves

WALTON – The Delaware County Soil and Water Conservation District (DCSWCD) will administer a new incentive of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to protect and manage stream banks within Delaware County and the Catskill/Delaware Watershed. The DEP has committed $3.6 million to the program in the watershed, and Delaware County is slated to receive $600,000 in funding in the next four years.

The Catskills Stream Buffer Initiative is for residential conservation projects only, but could include some projects that have already been implemented on many watershed farms, such as developing riparian buffers. Originally, the DEP announced that the deadline for filing an application for funding was Feb. 1, but DCSWCD Executive Director Rick Weidenbach said his organization will be accepting and prioritizing applications until all the grant money has been allocated.

“We’ve got approximately $150,000 a year to work with,” Weidenbach said. “Our problem at this point is staffing. We figure we may be able to do about 20 projects this year, and we probably already have 10 in the pipeline.”

The DEP explains that the program will help landowners obtain permits for a streamside project or provide access to financial support, labor and materials. The initiative also offers free planning assistance and educational seminars to help landowners understand how best to keep stream banks stable and protect property from erosion.

“We’ll be doing ongoing education and outreach throughout the four-year contract period,” he added.

Weidenbach said the grant program is set up to fund projects that will protect stream banks, help improve water quality, create shade and reduce the amount of nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen, from entering the stream.

“We’re going to provide technical assistance to establish or enhance vegetative buffers,” he said. “We want to have people call us up and we’ll determine whether they’re eligible. I would encourage them to do a little website browsing so they’re familiar with the program when they call.”

Weidenbach said this program fills an acknowledged need, because prior and concurrent programs have only addressed stream corridor protection for agriculture and municipalities.

“The purpose of this program is not to fix every stream bank, obviously we aren’t going to have the funding for that, but to provide assistance where it’s needed most,” he said.

Among the guidelines for the Catskill Streams Buffers Initiative is the provision that landowners who are involved in another DEP-funded program, such as the Watershed Forestry program’s Management Assistance program, may be eligible for supplemental assistance for riparian planting activities or bank stabilization projects.

Applicants will be selected based on how high they score in the rating criteria. The criteria includes information on the number and specifics of riparian functions to be addressed, location, whether the applicant is eligible for other watershed programs, the presence of invasive species and sustainability of the completed projects.

Applicant contributions are also among the criteria, according to the program’s website, and applicants who are willing to sign “a 10-year temporary easement or greater” rate higher than those wherein the landowner is only willing to sign “a five-year license agreement.” Projects score better when landowners are willing to contribute 10 percent of the costs of the projects, as well.

Landowners can view eligibility guidelines and the program rules for the projects at the website www.CatskillStreams.org/CSBI. The telephone number for the DCSWCD is 607-865-7161. The office is located at 44 West Street in Walton.

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This post may seem to stray from the environment, but it’s right on the money. In good times and bad, environmental programs are never fully funded. The poster child for this is the Land and Water Conservation Fund, created in 1964. In over 40 years, the program has rarely been funded, its funds siphoned off to balance the budget. Likewise the RGGI funds, that should be spent on green energy projects. There are plenty of other examples. We desperately need laws to mandate funds to be used for their intended purposes. Otherwise they are just slush funds.

Apparently NY State is funding school construction with funds that even in this horrendous budget year are being spent on their intended purpose. We may question how they are spent, but I’m glad at least some funds are not diverted to pay for tax cut offsets or pet projects. Every person deserves a first class education.

But, there certainly are issues with how the money is spent.

While New York City students may be required to pay for their bus fare to help bring down the budget deficit, and almost 15,000 teachers across the state could be laid off,  the Upstate Delaware County Downsville Central School is in the midst of a state funded $17 million restoration… including the restoration of copper turrets!

To be fair, the school buildings have asbestos, and this is being removed. But, could the asbestos be contained, could the renovation have been completed for less?

Keeping in mind the needs of your local school, here’s the details on this project: new playground, septic replacement and repair, restoration of the copper turrets on the roof, renovation of the locker rooms and gymnasium, new bus garage, new library wing (with skylights), new state of the art science laboratories and science classrooms, and a new computer lab.

According to Superintendent James Abrams, “Though we’ve asked them to make sacrifices and oftentimes work in temporary quarters, the staff’s been great.” I hope so. Most schools are cutting back on staff and programs.

This is a great project for the students and town of Downsville. The school is known for its student teacher ratio, scholastic achievement, and small student population. But shouldn’t every student in the State of New York be entitled to similar facilities?

Meanwhile in Walton, several “items” were left out of the most recent building project, the EXCEL project, which was funded entirely by the state. Superintendent of Schools Thomas Austin has asked the board to take a look at the possibility of another $3 million project to address some of those items.

He said there will be no reduction in the state building aid formula in the coming year.

Well, at least one budget item, education, or at least education construction is above the budget cuts.

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NYC’s Catskill watershed provides clean drinking water to eleven million people in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. It is one of the nation’s most critial water supply areas.  It is also unique in that the EPA has granted New York City a filtration requirement waver as long as the City maintains the high level of water quality. One of the many programs NYC has created to protect its watershed and drinking water are its septic programs.

The most well known is the Septic Rehab and Replacement:

“The program reimburses permanent residents 100 percent of eligible costs of repairing or replacing a failed septic system. Non-primary residents are reimbursed 60 percent of eligible costs.”

Free Septic Pump-Out & Dye Test

Today I recieved a letter from the Catskill Watershed Corporation inviting homeowners located in environmental priority areas of the NYC Watershed to participate in a program that will help preserve the Watershed’s high water quality. Participants are offered a FREE septic pump-out, a dye test of the system, and payment of all or part of any improvements needed. Sounds like a good deal to me!

If you live within the Catskill NYC Watershed, and are interested, please contact the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) office at 877-928-7433 (toll free) and ask to speak to someone in the technical department. They will explain how the program works. For an initial site visit, a simple one-page form must be filled out and returned to CWC.

I will be participating in the program and encourage others that are qualified to do the same. You can’t beat the price!

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3/13/10 – After reading a mention in the Andes Gazette of a nesting pair of Bald Eagles on Dingle Hill along the Pepacton Reservoir, my wife and I went to see for ourselves. It was a blustery day, with temps in the mid-30’s, a light rain, snow melt coursing down the hillsides.

We found the nest and saw an eagle.

The nest is located uphill on Route 30, on a curve between Dingle Hill Road and Close Hollow Road. (See map). You can’t miss it, on the high point jutting into the curve.

You may not park on the wide shoulder of the curve, as the many No Parking signs attest. Other signs warn of protected area. Best bet is to park on Close Hollow, or on Route 30, reservoir side, just in front of the “Former Site of the Town of Arena” sign. From this point you can get a good look at the nest, and are far enough away not to disturb them. With a good lens, you can get some good shots. REMEMBER… please be “subdued,” quiet, no loud talking, slamming cars doors, etc. Respect this Bald Eagle nursery!

According to the DEC………

I sent an info request concerning these eagles to NYDEC. If they respond, I’ll post that here.

After turning around and driving home, we saw one of the eagles perched next to the nest, a wonderful sight! Hopefully these eagles will continue to breed for many years, and their offspring will help repopulate the NYC Watershed with this majestic symbol of our nation.

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From the Walton Reporter (no website), February 12, 2010.

By Glenn Graves

DISH, Texas Mayor Calvin Tillman was at Downsville Central School last Wednesday evening to discuss the pitfalls that can be associated with natural gas development. His presentation was sponsored by a coalition of local groups concerned about the impacts of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale region of New York State and Pennsylvania, in response to a recent meeting, held in Downsville and sponsored by the towns of Colchester and Hancock, which announced the formation of a landowners association to negotiate lease deals with the gas industry.

Tillman said his town, which was renamed DISH, from Clark, after the DISH Network agreed to award all 200 townspeople free satellite television several years ago, sits over the Barnett Shale formation of Texas, a valuable natural gas reserve. DISH is the host to 11 natural gas compressors, four metering stations, 11 high-pressure gas lines and numerous gas wells and gathering lines, he said.

It is also the host to a noxious odor arising from all the activity, which, he said, tests have revealed contains high levels of carcinogens and neurotoxins. Tillman said the town hired a firm to conduct an air-quality study after horses and people in the town became sick.

When the town addressed people in the gas industry and landowners in the town who were leasing property to the gas developers, it fell on deaf ears, he said. “The natural gas profits are just like heroin and we had people addicted to it,” he said.

Tillman said 60 percent of DISH’s revenues were derived from property taxes on minerals, primarily natural gas and that as the wells lost production over the past 20 years, the town’s revenues similarly decreased. “Wells lose 50 percent production after the first year,” he said.

Tillman had several recommendations for communities, such as those in the Marcellus Shale region that will be host to burgeoning gas development. He said people should be wary of neighbors too eager to get them to sign on with a certain gas developer, because companies are paying some people to enlist others, sometimes as much as two percent of the royalties.

He also suggested setbacks from neighboring properties.

Tillman said communities should insist upon the gas companies using gathering tanks for used drilling fluids, rather than pools, as are used elsewhere. He said the companies could install vapor recovery condensation tanks to eliminate much of the chemicals that had sickened his community. He said the cost would be about $60,000 per unit.

He said the companies could also install zero-emission dehydrators to treat the fluids and that pneumatic valves should be installed in the hydrators, to keep the gas impurities from being released into the air.

Tillman said that the chemicals used in the hydrofracking fluids didn’t need to be revealed in Texas, but said New York State should insist on knowing the contents of all fluids being pumped into the ground to fracture the shale and release the gases. He said there is legitimate concern about what damage hydrofracking can do to groundwater. “Within the next six months, you’re going to hear that the EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) is going to commence a study of the impact of hydrofracking on drinking water,” he said.

He also strongly recommended the state impose a severance tax, based on the volume of gas extracted from the shale. “This industry has to be tightly regulated,” he said. “A severance tax would pay for more regulators.”

He suggested that the agency that is permitting the activity, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), not be the regulatory agency, in order to eliminate the chance of biases or alliances.

“Local ordinances should require road use agreements,” Tillman told the audience of over 100, “and local ordinances should also require green completions. There should also be places that are off limits for drilling and equipment, such as wells in school playgrounds and pipelines in front yards. Get control of where wells can be sited.”

Tillman also said communities should band together when signing leases. “There’s strength in numbers,” he said.

Tillman closed his presentation with a warning about the use of eminent domain by gas companies, which most states allow for the distribution of energy. “All 11 pipeline sites in our town were taken by eminent domain or under threat of eminent domain,” he said

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From the Walton Reporter (no website), February 24, 2010.

A pilot project funded by the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) to determine whether pelletized grass and hay can be used as an efficient heat source is gaining steam.

Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) Board of Directors was recently briefed on the status of the project by Paul Cerosaletti, of Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Delaware County, which was contracted by CWC to conduct the study.

Five indoor stoves and five outdoor, biomass hydronic furnaces have been installed at six sites in Delaware, Greene and Ulster counties. The three- year pilot project, funded by $195,500 from the Catskill Fund for the Future, has installed units in offices and highway garages at Franklin, Andes, Hunter and Jewett, and at the Ashokan Center in Olivebridge. A unit will soon be installed at Brookside Hardware in Margaretville.

The Harmon P68 pellet stove in a recreation and dining hall at the Ashokan Center will be demonstrated from 11 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 6, in conjunction with the center’s Maple Festival. Cerosaletti will give a presentation on grass pellet technology at 2 p.m.

The pilot project is monitoring all 10 devices for effectiveness, efficiency and operation and maintenance issues. Air-quality impacts will also be evaluated. Preliminary results have been positive, according to Cerosaletti.

The first device, a biomass furnace installed to hear the town of Franklin highway garage, has used half a ton of grass pellets per week since October 2009, supplemented by only 75 gallons of fuel oil during this period. Historically, the building had required up to 125 gallons per week and up to 200 gallons during especially cold weather.

Grass pellets, which cost $225 per ton, represent a significant potential savings to the town, and can reduce the town’s reliance on fossil fuels and foreign energy sources, while keeping all of the municipality’s energy dollars in the local economy.

Testing stoves, tweaking them to work well with grass biomass, perfecting pellet production and conducting cost-benefit analyses will help propel the development of grass pellets as a low-tech, small-scale, environmentally-friendly, renewable energy source that can be locally produced, processed and consumed, allowing unused or underutilized agricultural land to once again be a source of revenue and jobs.

Cerosaletti said, “We are in the infancy of understanding and developing robust, high efficiency, residential scale biomass combustion technology in the United States. I am confident we will be able to make the technology work. Pellet stoves and furnaces in general are extremely efficient, low-emission devices.”

CWC Executive Director Alan Rosa, added “Once it’s perfected, this technology will give residents and businesses alternatives to heating their homes, stores or offices. CWC believes that this may be cost effective and at the same time give farms another source of income in these challenging economic times.”

Pellets for these stoves are being produced by EnviroEnergy LLC (www.enviroenergyny.com), a firm started in 2008 by Bob and May Miller, and son and daughter-in-law, Mike and Mary Lou, in Wells Bridge. They have been purchasing hay from farmers within a 40-mile radius. Working part time, the plant has been producing about three tons of pellets a day. In addition to supplying the CWC project, the Millers sell pellets by the 40-pound bad to individual homeowners who had primarily used wood pellets in their pellet stoves.

The Millers, former dairy farmers, have made great strides in developing a durable, optimum pellet size with consistent energy content with a BTU comparable to wood pellets, Cerosaletti says. The company has become a registered biomass processor under the United States Department of Agriculture Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which will offer subsidies to farmers to produce biomass.

Already, two other entrepreneurs have expressed interest in establishing pellet plants locally, Cerosaletti said. But first, the demand for pellet stoves that can work with a variety of biomass sources needs to be there, which he says is where the pilot project will have an impact.

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From the Walton Reporter (no website), February 10, 2010.

Mayor Calvin Tillman of Dish, Texas says the people of his town “have seen the worst of what the natural gas industry is capable of.” Dish, located in the heart of the Barnett Shale gas fields, hosts 11 natural gas compressors, four metering stations, 11 high-pressure gas lines, and numerous gas wells and gathering lines. Its mayor had been warning other small cities located over the Barnett shale that the chaotic growth of gas transmission lines and compressor stations could seriously jeopardize their economic future.

Now, numerous cases of respiratory distress reported recently by Dish residents have pushed public health concerns to the forefront. Sixty-one percent of reported health problems were associated with toxic air emissions detected there, according to an independent analysis released by the nonprofit group, Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project on Dec. 18, 2009.

Two further independent studies, conducted by Wolf Eagle Environmental engineers and consultants, confirmed the presence of high concentrations of carcinogens and neurotoxins in the air. The study revealed that some town residents tested positive for chemicals being emitted from the natural gas facilities.

According to Wolf Eagle, almost all the town’s residents who participated in the study reported smelling noxious odors and over two-thirds of them reported respiratory distress, including breathing difficulty and bronchitis. Dish residents also reported many other ailments associated with high concentrations of air-born toxins, including burning eyes, nausea, dizziness, irregular heartbeat and pre-cancerous lesions.

Mayor Tillman will be coming to New York State to share his experience at public events sponsored by a coalition of local groups concerned about the impacts of gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale region. He will also be meeting with several groups of local elected officials in the Southern Tier.

Tillman has refused any compensation for public speaking engagements. “I would like to reach as many people as possible during this visit,” he says.

Delaware County residents will have the opportunity to hear the mayor on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 6:30 p.m. at the Downsville Central School gymnasium. The event is free and open to all.

For more information, visit the Dish, Texas website, http://www.townofdish.com/, and see Tillman’s blog at http://www.baddish.blogspot.com/.

Further information is available at www.unnaturalgas.org/events.htm

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West Branch Delaware River, looking down river from a window on the Hamden Covered Bridge.

From the Walton Reporter (no website), December 16, 2009.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) reported yesterday that its review of the 2004, 2005, and 2006 storm events, utilizing the new Delaware River Basin Flood Analysis Model, demonstrate that widespread river flooding would have occurred regardless of the pre-event storage conditions in the upper basin reservoirs. The findings were announced by DRBC staff at a public meeting of the Delaware River Basin Interstate Flood Mitigation Task Force held in Flemington, N.J.

“The results of the flood analysis computer model developed by a federal interagency team for the commission, as well as a review of inundation mapping and structural surveys prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, indicate that operational changes to reservoirs alone will not substantially reduce flooding if we experience storms similar to the three major events in September 2004, April 2005, and June 2006,” DRBC Executive Director Carol R. Collier said. “We believe the results support the earlier conclusion of the Interstate Flood Mitigation Task Force that no single approach will eliminate flooding along the Delaware River and that we must continue to focus efforts on implementing a combination of flood loss reduction strategies.”

Of the 13 reservoirs simulated in the model upstream of Trenton, N.J., five did not spill during any of the three storm events and thus can provide no further flood mitigation with additional pre-event void space. For the eight reservoirs that did spill, the model results indicate that larger pre-event voids could have reduced flood crests, but much of the main stem would still have remained in the National Weather Service (NWS) designated moderate or major flood stage. The amount of reduction in the flood crest that could potentially be achieved with the pre-event voids was found to depend upon the characteristics of the storm event (path, precipitation intensity, duration, timing and antecedent soil saturation) as well as on proximity to the reservoir, stream channel characteristics and local topography.

The flood analysis model was used by DRBC staff to predict river stages for six hypothetical pre-event reservoir conditions for each of the three storms. In each scenario, river stages were simulated at nine NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPC) flood forecast points.

The model predicted that with the three New York City (NYC) reservoirs, Pepacton, Canonsville and Neversink hypothetically empty preceding each of the three storm events, river elevations would still have reached or exceeded flood stage at all but three of the AHPS forecast locations where flooding actually occurred. These three locations were on tributaries a short distance below the reservoirs, at Hale Eddy in 2005, Harvard in 2004/2005 and Bridgeville in 2006.

The model predicted that with partial voids, river elevations would still have reached or exceeded flood stage at all but two of the AHPS forecast locations that experienced flooding- again, at Harvard with a pre-event void of 10 or 20 percent n 2004 and at Bridgeville with a pre-event void of 20 percent in 2006.

The model results predicted that river elevations would have exceeded flood stage at all other AHPS forecast points regardless of pre-event reservoir levels. However, partial voids did result in flood crest reductions. The largest simulated potential reduction in river elevation on the main stem Delaware under the 20 percent reservoir void scenario was approximately 4.5 feet at Easton, Pa. in connection with the 2006 storm event. Despite this predicted reduction, the stage at Easton would still have exceeded the NWS major flood stage. Inundation mapping and structural surveys prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) indicate that in this scenario 34 of 60 surveyed properties should still have been inundated.

The number of units spared under a hypothetical pre-event void scenario is less favorable when the analysis is extended to multiple sites. Thus, when Easton is considered together with 11 other basin locations included in the USACE structural damage survey, 1,191 out of 1,484 properties would still have been flooded with a simulated 20 percent pre-event reservoir void in connection with the 2006 event.

“Property analysis such as this reminds us that persons living in a flood hazard area have a high level of risk for experiencing flooding,” Collier said. “Considering operational changes to existing reservoirs as the only flood mitigation strategy would unfortunately provide a false sense of security for people who own or occupy the vast majority of structures currently located in, or proposed to be located in, flood prone areas. I believe it is clear that we need to work with all levels of government and the public, including our floodplain residents, to move forward with implementing all 45 recommendations of the Delaware River Basin Interstate Flood Mitigation Task Force which call for a comprehensive approach to flood loss reduction.”

DRBC will continue to work with basin reservoir operators to evolve spill mitigation programs that shift spilled water to managed water without diminishing the security of regional water supplies. Eleven million people in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania depend upon NYC’s three Delaware Basin reservoirs for drinking water – either directly or through releases to augment river flows downstream. Other actions being pursued by DRBC for flood damage mitigation include:

• Continuing to implement non-reservoir related task force recommendations, such as flood warning system upgrades and basin-wide storm water management with retrofits in developed areas.
• Strengthening flood plain management.
• Continuing to explore basin-wide water resource strategies that may include additional multi-purpose storage.

Development of the flood analysis computer model was among the 45 recommendations identified by the Delaware River Basin Interstate Flood Mitigation Task Force, formed at the request of the four governors, in its July 2007 action agenda for a more proactive, sustainable and systematic approach to flood damage reduction.

The interagency team that developed the flood analysis model included staff from the USACE Hydrologic Engineering Center, NWS, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and DRBC. Work on the flood analysis model began in August 2007 with $500,000 provided by the four basin state governors. Additional funds and in-kind services from USACE, NWS, and USGS have totaled $285,000. The development of the model proved to be a more complicated undertaking than originally expected, delaying its release.

The flood analysis model used to generate yesterday’s presentation will be posted on the DRBC web site no later than today, Dec. 16. The model’s documentation and graphical user interface are still being finalized. The DRBC expects to be able to publish these products in January 2010. DRBC also plans to have an independent technical review of the flood analysis model performed. 

The DRBC was created by compact in 1961 through legislation signed into law by President John F. Kennedy and the governors of the four basin states that encompass land draining to the Delaware River. The passage of this compact marked the first time in our nation’s history that the federal government and a group of states joined together as equal partners in a river basin planning development and regulatory agency.

Additional information can be found on the commission’s web site at www.drbc.net.

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West Branch Delaware River, looking upriver from a window on the Hamden Covered Bridge.

From the Walton Reporter (no website), January 27, 2010.

New York State Senator John Bonacic said, last week, that New York City should purchase natural gas drilling rights in the watershed, rather than try to have the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) prohibit the drilling through regulation. Bonacic said the attempt to have gas drilling prevented in the watershed is an attempt to expand New York City Watershed Rules and Regulations without any compensation.

Bonacic said the city is trying to sidestep the procedures set up in the Memorandum of Agreement that was signed by upstate communities, New York City, the state of New York, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and environmental groups. He said the city has attempted to have specific rules placed on watershed properties before, through the Army Corps of Engineers, and is now attempting the same “back door” maneuver to get the state to impose stiffer regulations on the watershed than the remainder of the state.

“If New York City can stop development of energy sources in the Catskills, they can diminish the value of the people’s land without compensation,” Bonacic said. “Anytime a government singles out my constituents and tries to diminish their wealth potential, without offering compensation, I am opposed on principle.”

The DEC is currently reviewing comments made in response to proposed draft regulations for gas drilling in New York. New York City in its comments provided a detailed description of potential dangers drilling in the watershed could impose on its drinking water and that drilling could also jeopardize its filtration avoidance determination (FAD) from the EPA.

Drilling opponents are asking for a statewide ban on drilling or a moratorium until DEC has addressed all concerns to protect drinking water aquifers. A prohibition of drilling in the New York City Watershed would enhance their abilities to prove that the processes proposed for extraction of gas in the state are potentially harmful in any watershed.

Bonacic offered a solution to the city Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the “so-called environmental groups” which oppose gas drilling in the Catskills. “Let them buy the development rights,” he said. “For those landowners who want to sell their gas rights, let the city pay the same market rate to keep the land undeveloped. We buy agricultural development rights for tracts of land we wish to preserve. Let those who oppose the lawful exploration and extraction of gas in the Catskills pay for those development tights the same way the state and local governments pay for development rights owned by farmers.”

Bonacic concluded, “Attempting to backdoor more regulation onto the watershed lands is offensive, breaches the spirit of the watershed agreement and diminishes trust between the watershed communities and the city. If the city wants to renegotiate the watershed agreement, then let them do it, but it is patently wrong for them to try to use sneaky back door efforts through another government agency to do their bidding.”

Bonacic’s proposal was met with support from Assemblyman Clifford Crouch, who said, “With the potential natural gas development comes the potential for job growth and financial stimulus which upstaters have for lo long been deprived of. The economic development and job creation linked to natural gas exploration is necessary for the survival of the upstate economy.”

Crouch said the development of natural gas in New York can ensure the stability of state financed programs and combat the ballooning deficit, adding, “The reality is that New York City does not control the mineral rights in the watershed, and to impose such regulations constitutes the taking of mineral rights without adequate compensation.”

Delaware County Board of Supervisors Chairman James Eisel said the county has already passed a resolution that states just what Bonacic and Crouch have proposed. “We stated that months ago,” he said.” “If the state is going to be allowed to profit from this modern day gold rush, then the citizens of Delaware County must not be left out. If the city doesn’t want drilling in the watershed, then our property owners should be compensated fairly, for the development rights and the potential royalties.”

Eisel said he doesn’t believe the administration is going to allow the watershed to be singled out, however. “I’ll tell you, since he took over for Spitzer, so much of what he’s done and said has made sense to me, about the state’s predicament and the measures we have to take to straighten things out. He’s got to understand the economic potential that gas development will provide and see to it that the entire state can take advantage.”

A Delaware County Democrat has also voiced his support for the monetary compensation solution. Town of Hamden supervisor Wayne Marshfield, who is a member of the Catskill Watershed Corporation Board of Directors, said, “People in the Catskills are struggling. There is not a lot of wealth here. Trying to impose new regulations by using a state agency to do its bidding is wrong. If the city wants to further limit our property rights, they should pay us to limit them. That would be in keeping with the spirit of the watershed agreement and the respect both the city and upstate need to have for each other.”

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If you have any interest at all in the Eastern Coyote, their habits, habitat, what they are eating, their impact on other species, num, movements and human/coyote interactions in the urban/suburban/rural environments you must attend this exciting and interesting lecture.

Featured speakers:

• Dr. Jacqueline L. Frair, Assistant Professor Wildlife Ecology, SUNT ESF

Dr. Frair is the principal investigator in a five-year $670,000 study funded by the NYS DEC that aims at getting a better idea of how many coyotes live in the state and where that population is distributed, and what effect, if any, their eating habits are having on the white-tailed deer herd.

• Bob Bogan, Graduate Student, Cornell University 

Mr. Bogan, who is working on a Master’s thesis about urban/suburban human/coyote interactions, will assist Dr. Frair with the presentation.

Thursday, March 4th – 4:30 – 6:30PM

Ulster County Community College
Vanderlyn Hall
Stone Ridge, NY

Note: Jack McShane of Andes helped arrange this lecture.

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From the Walton Reporter, abbreviated, January 20, 2010

(The article expressed the disapproval of a New York Attorney General settlement with five healthcare facilities within the NYC watershed to cease flushing unused pharmaceuticals down sinks and toilets, and to pay a fine of less than $18,000 for the five institutions combined. The board felt the institutions were not doing anything wrong. The end of the article (which follows) concerns James Eisel, Chairman of the Delaware County Board of Supervisors and the NYC land acquisition program.)

Eisel also claims the attorney general’s enforcement activities are selective and not intended for the betterment of all New York residents. “The AG’s office is concerned about the law and ‘proper conduct,’ yet did not take action when the state, environmental groups and federal government cut a deal behind closed doors, absent a watershed resident presence, requiring New York City add $241 million more to its land acquisition program for another 10 years. NYC Environmental Protection staff had already stated they only needed a $55 million land acquisition program to safeguard their water supply. The burden of this backdoor decision is being borne by the watershed residents and the NYC water ratepayers, two groups who can ill afford to fund such a large effort.

“New York City is currently negotiating to receive a new land acquisition permit to acquire land ion the watershed. This action against upstate healthcare institutions, combined with the AG’s office actions undertaken during the negotiations over the renewal of the NYC permit, the AG’s office has breeched the spirit of partnership contained in the landmark Memorandum of Agreement. In light of this breech, Delaware County is fast losing incentive to continue negotiations for the renewal of the land acquisition permit.”

In summation, Eisel wrote, “it is unfortunate the AG’s office doesn’t have the same respect and compassion for watershed residents as they do for the nine million water consumers in and around New York City. The NYS Attorney General ‘serves as the guardian of the legal rights of the citizens of New York, its organizations and its natural resources,’ but, obviously, the rights of the citizens in Delaware County are not included under its mission.”

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