fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Cooper Lake report: Water’s not there

by Jesse J. Smith
April 14, 2016
in News, Politics & Government
0
Photo: Dion Ogust.
Photo: Dion Ogust.

A new report commissioned by opponents of a plan to sell Kingston’s municipal water to a private bottling company raises a host of environmental and legal concerns, and recommends the review process be shut down until an up-to-date report on just how much water the Cooper Lake reservoir has to give is finished.

Citizens’ groups in both Kingston and Woodstock have railed against the plan since September, when the proposal by California-based Niagara Bottling to open a plant on a vacant industrial site near the former IBM complex became public. The plan calls for Niagara to purchase a maximum of 1.75 million gallons daily from the city’s water supply at Cooper Lake. That water, along with spring water trucked in from other locations, would be bottled on-site for distribution throughout the Northeast. The proposed plant, Niagara says, would bring about 120 jobs to the area; payments by the company to the Kingston Water Department would help fund some $18 million in infrastructure upgrades and replacements needed in the next five years.

But opponents of the plan in Kingston and Woodstock, where the city draws water from Cooper Lake, have mounted a fierce campaign against the plan. They argue that bottled water is an environmental evil and that the sale of so much water could have serious negative consequences for the watershed. Earlier this month, the opposition added some scientific weight to its arguments when the group SaveCooperLake.org released a report they commissioned by Tivoli-based hydrologist Paul A. Rubin. Richard Buck, who sits on the steering committee of SaveCooperLake.org, said the group commissioned the report to establish a baseline of facts as the Town of Ulster prepares to lead an environmental review of the project.

“Personally, we believe that the sale of municipal water for resale by a corporation is morally and probably legally wrong,” said Buck. “But what we found out [from Rubin’s report] is that there are a lot of unanswered questions around this project.”

Rubin, whose 30-year career as a hydrologist includes a stint working for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection in the Ashokan watershed, spent about a month preparing the 16-page report which lays out some of those questions in detail. The report cites eight potential areas of concern, including potential reduction in water levels at Cooper Lake, the potential to exceed the Kingston Water Department’s own reported safe yield from the system and the reduction of groundwater availability in Woodstock wells. The report also addresses legal issues around the sale by Kingston of water which originates in Woodstock and feeds into New York City’s water supply as well as water rights and potential revenue sharing among the involved communities.

“I was hired by Save Cooper Lake, but they pretty much gave me free rein,” said Rubin. “They said, here are our concerns, take a look.”

One of the key findings in Rubin’s study is that the potential drawdown from the Niagara plant could exceed the city’s safe yield estimate of 6.1 million gallons per day. Rubin arrived at the figure by calculating maximum daily usage in Kingston and the Town of Ulster (4.6 MGD) and the approved, but as yet unbuilt, Hudson Landing Project (0.55 MGD) along with the 1.75 MGD requested by Niagara. The resulting number, 6.9 MGD, represents 113 percent of the safe yield.

Officials at the Kingston Water Department, however contend that a leak abatement program scheduled for this year would boost the safe yield enough to meet Niagara’s need while maintaining a cushion in the safe yield figure. KWD Superintendent Judith Hansen has also said that while Niagara has formally requested a maximum of 1.75 MGD in their application to the department, actual daily use would likely be far less.

Rubin’s report goes on the question the safe yield figure itself. Rubin’s notes that the figure of 6.1 MGD was calculated back in 1961 and has not been updated since. In the report Rubin suggested that the environmental review currently underway be halted until a new safe yield is calculated.

“If you’re in charge of the water supply for a major city, you don’t work off of 54-year-old data,” said Rubin. “This should have been updated annually.”

Hansen responded by saying that the factors that go into calculating maximum yield had not changed over the years and thus there was no reason to believe that the figure was incorrect. The number she said was based on the size of the watershed, the capacity of the reservoir and conditions during the driest period on record — in Kingston’s case, a 1957 drought.

“I really don’t understand how that number will change if none of those factors have changed,” said Hansen, who said she had not yet had a chance to read Rubin’s report.

Page 1 of 2
12Next
Tags: Cooper LakeNiagara Bottlingtown of ulster
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

Pioneering architect Frances Halsband got her start on Woodstock’s Village Green

Next Post

Curmudgeon Corner: Words of wisdom

Jesse J. Smith

Related Posts

Elting Library Fair honors Sally Rhoads and Carol Roper
Community

Woodstock Library plans a spatial transition

September 27, 2023
Town of Ulster volunteer EMS workers eligible for a ten percent property tax exemption
Politics & Government

Town of Ulster volunteer EMS workers eligible for a ten percent property tax exemption

September 27, 2023
Woodstock contest for town supervisor proves contentious
Politics & Government

Report exonerates McKenna, but doubts remain

September 27, 2023
In New Paltz, a plant store, a massage provider, and a tattooist open a store together
Business

In New Paltz, a plant store, a massage provider, and a tattooist open a store together

September 26, 2023
New Paltz parents want more classroom time for children
Education

Drop in enrollment will be considered during NPSCD’s upcoming budget season

September 26, 2023
Dog owners ask the town for more support at the Ulster County Dog Park
Community

Dog owners ask the town for more support at the Ulster County Dog Park

September 27, 2023
Next Post

Curmudgeon Corner: Words of wisdom

Trending News

  • Miller Middle School approves deployment of resource officer for 2023-24 school year 1.4k views
  • Dog owners ask the town for more support at the Ulster County Dog Park 1.1k views
  • Famous hairstylist taking appointments at mini-festival in Kingston this weekend 1.1k views
  • Legendary rock royalty performs in Woodstock this weekend 666 views
  • Gilberto Nunez, Kingston dentist acquitted of murder but convicted on other charges, set loose 592 views
  • In New Paltz, a plant store, a massage provider, and a tattooist open a store together 570 views

Weather

Kingston
◉
46°
Cloudy
6:49 am6:43 pm EDT
Feels like: 46°F
Wind: 2mph N
Humidity: 98%
Pressure: 30.33"Hg
UV index: 0
FriSatSun
59/54°F
70/52°F
75/55°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing