Groundwater resources: taking charge

In Sullivan County, when there’s a problem with water, it’s generally because there’s too much.

In an area thickly interlaced with streams and bordered by a river, the most visible and persistent water problem is flooding. To be sure, in severe droughts, some of the county’s shallow wells run dry. But barring supply cutoffs caused by pollution, like the contamination of Liberty’s Elm Street well in the early ‘90s, water shortages are not in general something we’ve had to worry about.

Difficulties experienced recently by our more heavily populated neighbor to the south, however, suggest that we should not remain indefinitely complacent about the situation. As reported recently in The Times Herald Record, the stress placed by rampant development on the water supply in Orange County’s Pine Bush has led to a moratorium on water hookups in some areas. Also as a result of the water shortage, the Town of Crawford has increased the Pine Bush Central School District’s water-use taxes, which in turn has had an impact on those Sullivan County residents who pay taxes to that district.

Obviously, water shortage problems in Orange County are starting to overflow its borders. And given the fact that Sullivan County’s comprehensive plan presupposes that we will become urbanized in another 15 years, continued complacency about our own water supply is not a luxury we can afford.

Even within Sullivan’s borders, there have already been rumblings with regard to groundwater availability. In response to the St. Regis Mohawk’s application to build a casino at Kutsher’s, the Environmental Protection Agency “expressed environmental concerns due to direct and cumulative impacts to groundwater and surface water,” according to the Federal Register of July 30, 2004. To be sure, the tribe has since shifted its attention to Monticello—but that’s not so very far from Kutsher’s.

There is concern about water use in relation to the Yukiguni mushroom factory in Mamakating. The factory will draw hundreds of thousands of gallons a day from the underlying aquifer. Some experts think it won’t be a problem, but others disagree. Certainly the situation bears watching.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has a considerable amount of information on Sullivan County hydrologic resources. A comprehensive survey was done in 1961, and more recent research also exists, such as a couple of studies of potential well yields done in the 1980s. Still, some updated studies would be highly desirable. In addition, there doesn’t seem to be a clearly defined administrative structure in place to evaluate existing information, decide what new information is needed, and take proactive steps to make sure our water supply remains adequate.

According to Brian Brustman of the Sullivan County Soil and Water Conservation District, groundwater is not really the business of his office, which focuses on surface water and storm water runoff. He suggested we call the Department of Public Health. They, in turn, referred us to an apparently defunct number for the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in Parksville. We also tried the Department of Public Works, which referred us to Cornell Cooperative Extension, who referred us back to the Sullivan County Soil and Water District.

The Region 3 office of the DEC, headquartered in New Paltz, has jurisdiction over our groundwater to the extent that it may require environmental impact studies with respect to specific projects or in response to specific complaints, and requires permits for certain types of development. It is also actively engaged in monitoring, and has an ongoing water sampling program to test water quality. But it’s not clear that it’s approaching the issue from a big-picture point of view.

The closest thing we could find to the type of pro-active planning we are looking for is a project undertaken by the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC)—not for our area, but for Southeastern PA. Some years ago, prompted by explosive growth in that area, the agency did a study of water resources there using USGS data. On the basis of the study, it implemented a system of restrictions on the amount of groundwater that can be drawn in 76 sub-basins in the region.

There are a number of organizations that have a partial handle on the issue of adequate water supply in Sullivan County. But as development pressure grows, it might make sense to assign central responsibility for monitoring the balance between development and groundwater resources to a local individual or office. That office, in turn, should consider having a study performed similar to the one the DRBC did in Southeastern PA. That way, maybe we won’t wind up, like Orange County, scrambling to cobble together a solution after the problem has slipped out of control.

Also in this issue:

• My View

Dr. Punnybone

He's Got a Thing for Her