September 15, 2016

Contact:

deppressoffice@dep.nyc.gov, (845) 334-7868

Delaware County and New York City DEP Announce $24 Million Deal for Long-Term Maintenance of Roads Near Cannonsville and Pepacton Reservoirs

Agreement Covers Work on more than 40 miles of City-Owned Roads in Delaware County

Delaware County and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) today announced a long-term agreement through which the City will provide $24 million to the County for the reconstruction of roadway infrastructure near Cannonsville and Pepacton reservoirs. Through the agreement, which includes work until the year 2024, the Delaware County Department of Public Works (DPW) will upgrade highway infrastructure along more than 40 miles of City-owned roads in the watershed. The work will include repaving and restriping the roads, replacing all their guiderails, stabilizing shoulders, and repairing culverts. Work on BWS Road 4 and BWS Road 7 near Pepacton Reservoir could begin as early as this fall.

The roadwork deal is the third such intergovernmental agreement between the City and Delaware County since 2012. The first agreement, which totaled $1 million in 2012, reconstructed a 2.1-mile stretch of NYC Highway 30A between Delaware County Highway 1 and Firment Road in the Town of Andes. A second agreement, also for $1 million in 2014, covered the reconstruction of 2.2 miles of BWS Road 4 along the north shore of Pepacton Reservoir in the Town of Andes. Delaware County and New York City also collaborated on road infrastructure projects in the 1990s. From 1994-1996, DEP provided funds for Delaware County to rebuild approximately 40 miles of City-owned roads in the watershed. After the devastating flood of January 1996, Delaware County also received City funds to rebuild the culvert at Chase Brook, near the head of Cannonsville Reservoir.

“This eight-year agreement will provide new and improved safe city roads for the traveling public,” said Jim Eisel, Chairman of the Delaware County Board of Supervisors. “Delaware County Department of Public Works is pleased to provide this essential service to the City in a financial working partnership that will benefit both the City and Delaware County.”

“Our roadwork agreements with Delaware County have been great examples of a partnership working toward mutual goals,” DEP Acting Commissioner Vincent Sapienza said. “The work that is planned over the next eight years will ensure that our roadways are safe for the traveling public in Delaware County and for the daily operation and maintenance of New York City’s waters supply system. I want to thank Chairman Jim Eisel of the Delaware County Board of Supervisors and County DPW Commissioner Wayne Reynolds for their willingness to oversee these key infrastructure projects.”

“The Department of Public Works is looking forward to working with the City on this project,” Delaware County DPW Commissioner Wayne Reynolds said. “The contract gives us the ability to reconstruct deteriorating roads that many of our taxpayers travel on a regular basis. It also provides the opportunity to take advantage of some economy of scale to attract vendors to the county to perform both City and County work at better prices. With revenues generated from using County equipment and employees on this contract, it gives the opportunity to purchase more asphalt for County roads. This contract is mutually beneficial for both agencies.”

DEP owns, operates and maintains 57 bridges and 99 miles of roads in the watershed, the vast majority of which encircle reservoirs that comprise the largest municipal water supply in the United States. Cannonsville and Pepacton reservoirs are part of the City’s Delaware System, which conveys drinking water from the Catskills to New York City through the 85-mile Delaware Aqueduct, the longest continuous tunnel in the world.

DEP manages New York City’s water supply, providing more than one billion gallons of water each day to more than 9.5 million residents, including 8.5 million in New York City, and residents of Ulster, Orange, Putnam, and Westchester counties. This water comes from the Catskill, Delaware, and Croton watersheds that extend more than 125 miles from the City, and the system comprises 19 reservoirs, three controlled lakes, and numerous tunnels and aqueducts. DEP employs nearly 6,000 employees, including almost 1,000 scientists, engineers, surveyors, watershed maintainers and others professionals in the upstate watershed.In addition to its $68 million payroll and $157 million in annual taxes paid in upstate counties, DEP has invested more than $1.5 billion in watershed protection programs—including partnership organizations such as the Catskill Watershed Corporation and the Watershed Agricultural Council—that support sustainable farming practices, environmentally sensitive economic development, and local economic opportunity. In addition, DEP has a robust capital program with over $14 billion in investments planned over the next 10 years that will create up to 3,000 construction-related jobs per year. For more information, visit nyc.gov/dep, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.