The New York City Department of Environmental Protection announced yesterday that, starting today, the Lower Esopus will get 10 to 15 million gallons of clean water a day from the Ashokan Reservoir.
For creekside residents below the Ashokan, who have endured the release of billions of gallons of muddy water into the Esopus this year, it's a banner day. The Times Herald-Record reports:
"Tomorrow is a historic day," Candice Balmer told a forum Thursday night at Town Hall in the Town of Ulster. Balmer is a member of the Lower Esopus Watershed Partnership. "For the first time since the Ashokan Reservoir was built 100 years ago, New York City is releasing water to benefit the communities downstream."
Local residents were so thrilled by the clean-water releases that they planned a "release party" for Friday night at the Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston.
Town of Ulster Supervisor James Quigley praised the move.
“I think this is a historical event where the (Department of Environmental Protection) has stepped up to do the right thing and are undertaking voluntary releases of relatively clean water down into the Esopus Creek to improve the water flow and the environment and the conditions within the creek,” Quigley said.
The press release from the DEP is embedded below.
