UPPER DELAWARE RIVER VALLEY — A full shutdown of the Delaware Aqueduct is still months away, but a test shutdown conducted earlier in March went off without a hitch.

The Delaware Aqueduct forms a crucial part of the system that supplies New York City with water. It takes approximately 600 million gallons of water a day from the Upper Delaware to NYC, supplying around half of the city’s daily water needs. 

A pair of leaks in the aqueduct first discovered in the 1990s—one beneath the Hudson River near Newburgh, the other in the Ulster County Town of Wawarsing—will require the Delaware Aqueduct to shut down in October for repairs. The shutdown is projected to last several months, and was originally scheduled for October of 2022 before infrastructure delays pushed it back. 

The NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) manages the Delaware Aqueduct and its repair. The DEP shut down the aqueduct from March 6 to 19 as part of a planned test. 

“The testing being done in March will ensure that all of our equipment and procedures are in place and ready for major work to begin this fall,” DEP Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala said in a statement announcing the shutdown. 

The exercise was completed successfully, with all operations and infrastructure performing as expected, DEP Bureau of Water Supply Director of Outreach John Milgrim told the River Reporter. 

There were no discernable impacts to the Upper Delaware River from the shutdown, confirmed Jeff Skelding, executive director of the Friends of the Upper Delaware River (FUDR). 

Save the date

The full shutdown is yet months away, but outreach to inform the community about its impacts is already kicking off. 

“DEP anticipates finalizing the Delaware Aqueduct repair project starting this fall and will take part in multiple public engagement sessions in the Delaware River Basin and Hudson Valley detailing the project and watershed operations starting next month and throughout spring and summer,” said Milgrim. 

“NYCDEP has been very good with communicating on the October shutdown,” Skelding told the River Reporter. 

An information session will occur on Tuesday, April 11, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Hancock Town Hall. The FUDR and the Upper Delaware River Tailwaters Coalition, a group of municipal officials and nonprofits working on behalf of the tailwaters, arranged the meeting with the DEP. DEP officials will talk about how the shutdown will impact management of the reservoirs in the Upper Delaware and of the Upper Delaware River tailwaters. Email info@fudr.org or 607/637-4499 for more information or for a Zoom link to the meeting. 

Later in the spring, the Upper Delaware Council (UDC) plans to host Jennifer Garigliano, DEP Bureau of Water Supply chief of staff, at its Thursday, May 4 meeting to discuss the Delaware Aqueduct project, UDC Executive Director Laurie Ramie told the council at a March 2 meeting.