Sailing the shining reservoir

Program floats new boat record

Posted 2/2/22

CATSKILLS RESERVOIRS — For 10 years, people have been able to take their boats out for boat-type activities in Catskills reservoirs, and last year those folks set a record.

According to a …

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Sailing the shining reservoir

Program floats new boat record

Posted

CATSKILLS RESERVOIRS — For 10 years, people have been able to take their boats out for boat-type activities in Catskills reservoirs, and last year those folks set a record.

According to a news release from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the four reservoirs—Cannonsville, Neversink, Pepacton and Schoharie—drew 1,826 visitors in 2021, breaking the previous record by more than 150 people. The visitor numbers came from a count of boat rentals and registrations.

Explaining the increase, DEP commissioner Vincent Sapienza pointed to a general uptick in visitors to the Catskills, and an increased interest in outdoor recreation, with its health benefits.

Environmentally friendly recreation can coexist with economic development and protection of the city’s water supply, said Jason Merwin, executive director of the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC).

The Neversink reservoir came in second place, with 526 rentals. (Pepacton was first, with 1,003.) In addition to boats rented to New York residents and registrations of local boats, tags were issued to visitors from 12 states, including Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia.

But don’t these recreational boaters harm the water? No. DEP staff constantly monitor the water “Regular water-quality monitoring at each of these reservoirs has shown no impact from recreational boating,” according to the news release. “DEP’s invasive species experts have surveyed every boat launch site and found no sign of aquatic plants or animals that can harm drinking water quality.”

The boats are inspected and cleaned to ensure that no invasive species are transmitted to the water supply.

The CWC is currently seeking business partners to supply pre-cleaned rental boats in the Cannonsville Reservoir area. See page 8.

In addition to its $70 million payroll and $168.9 million in annual taxes paid in upstate counties, the DEP has invested more than $2.7 billion in watershed protection programs—including partnership organizations such as the CWC and the Watershed Agricultural Council—that support environmentally sensitive economic development and  local economic opportunity, the release noted.

For more information, go to http://www. nyc.gov/dep, like them on Facebook at facebook.com/nycwater, or follow the DEP on Twitter at twitter.com/nycwater.

Department of Environmental Protection, Cannonsville, Neversink, Pepacton, Schoharie, recreation, boats

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