Statement of Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Commissioner Paul Rush on Extension of Flexible Flow Management Program

“New York City believes that adjustments to the current Flexible Flow Management Program (FFMP) could improve spill mitigation efforts, formalize a thermal relief protocol for fisheries, and support responsible water supply management for all the cities and towns that depend on the Delaware River and its headwaters. While there has been progress on some of these issues, an additional year under the current program will give the Decree Parties the time necessary to continue negotiating these complex and important issues, using sound science as our guide. DEP will also continue to use its Operations Support Tool to ensure we are releasing and diverting water responsibly from the city’s reservoirs. We hope that a more long-lasting program, accounting for the needs of water suppliers and downstream interests, can be developed and agreed upon by this time next year.”

For more information about the Flexible Flow Management Program, please see information from the Office of the Delaware River Master website by clicking here.

DEP manages New York City’s water supply, providing more than one billion gallons of high quality water each day to more than 9 million New Yorkers. This includes more than 70 upstate communities and institutions in Ulster, Orange, Putnam and Westchester counties who consume an average of 110 million total gallons of drinking water daily from New York City’s water supply system. 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 has nearly 6,000 employees, including almost 1,000 scientists, engineers, surveyors, watershed maintainers and other 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 $1.7 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.