NARROWSBURG, NY — A week after July 8 test bore drilling created a turbid release below the dam, New York City officials revealed the incident, and announced on July 15 that the Cannonsville Dam was not leaking. The New York Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) press release stated that “a preliminary investigation indicated that the drilling released ground water.”

At the same time, “out of an abundance of caution,” the city gathered downstream regional emergency management officials at the Deposit Theater on July 16 to view a slideshow with details about what had occurred.

The presentation also included reference to the availability of a library of inundation maps for various downstream areas.

And what about the intervening week between the incident and the announcement? Lordville resident and Hancock delegate Fred Peckham asked colleagues on the Upper Delaware Council (UDC) on August 6.

“It was six days before I heard about this. I have two-and-a-half hours (evacuation time in the event of a dam failure),” he said.

“In six days, I’m gone. Everything’s gone,” Peckham said.

“Maybe New York City and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation should get together,” and come up with a notification system, he said.

Peckham’s comments prompted some debate about what kinds of emergency plans now exist and who is responsible for notifications.

County and local plans were said to exist, but UDC Chair Al Henry asked that the National Park Service take a lead responsibility for reviewing the planning.

Peckham noted that NPS should take the lead as, “It is your water.”

The city was said to now be reevaluating plans for the hydroelectric project that prompted the test borings.

The discussion turned to impacts on the cold-water release plan that protects trout populations and the fishing industry in hot weather. According to NYCDEP, maximum releases ordered after the incident would have depleted cold water reserves by August 18, if repairs to halt the turbidity had not been completed beforehand.

“How will it be refilled? How will this affect August of 2016?” Town of Highland Supervisor and UDC representative Andrew Boyar asked.

Jeff Skelding, executive director of the Hancock-based Friends of the Upper Delaware River, wrote that the incident illustrates that to “artificially bifurcate” the watershed puts burdens on downstream communities. “Through no fault of their own, downstream communities must shoulder the burden of… potential shortages of cold water and associated economic repercussions….”

Skelding also claimed that downstream fishing had not been improved by the increased releases, but Tusten delegate and river guide Tony Ritter said he saw some of the best fishing and boating conditions he’d ever experienced on the river, after the increased releases became apparent downstream.

Henry cut off the flows debate, saying it “has always been at issue.”

Boyar also asked about what he termed as “scuttlebutt” regarding construction intruding on an eagle’s nest.

Carla Hahn, who was representing the National Park Service, said the disturbance in question was not in the mandated 500-foot nesting threat zone, and that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation was “contacted and checked, and the final answer was that ‘the eagles are okay.’”