| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE10-07
January 21, 2010
CONTACT:
Anne Canty/Mercedes Padilla/Angel Roman (718)
595-6600
DEP Expands Initiative To Better Measure Snowpack, Mitigate
Flooding
Electronic ‘Snow Pillows’ Provide Real-Time Data on Amount of Water
in Snowpack
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) today announced it is expanding the testing of electronic "snow
pillows"
first installed in 2008. The snow pillow is a device that measures the
amount of water in snowpack for a watershed area. Snowpack is a crucial
indicator of overall water supply because melting snow drains into
reservoirs. DEP, the first agency in the country to use this
state-of-the-art technology, installed five new snow pillows over the
last month on the Catskill/Delaware watersheds. The total cost of this
project is $50,000.
"This is a prime example of new technology that will
improve our operations by providing real-time information concerning the
water
content of the snowpack," said Environmental Protection Commissioner Cas
Holloway. "Data from the snow pillows will supplement the detailed
information we already collect in the Watershed, such as stream flow,
weather conditions, and reservoirs levels. Taken together, this
information increases our operational responsiveness and our ability to
protect water quality by helping us better anticipate the likelihood of
turbidity events caused by large snow melts."
The electronic snow pillow was initially developed by
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Alaska. Based on knowledge gleaned
from the pillows installed by DEP in 2008, DEP developed a simpler
design now
being used at locations within the Cannonsville, Pepacton, and Neversink
reservoir watersheds. One of the original 2008 pillows is used at a
location within the Schoharie Reservoir watershed. Locations for the
pillows were chosen in partnership with the National Weather Service,
which is using data from several sites to improve a snowmelt and flash
flood forecasting model they are developing.
The new snow pillow design is an aluminum triangle with highly
accurate scales that take measurements every 60 seconds, sending the
information to a DEP facility every hour via radio transmission. While
DEP staff will continue to perform field checks throughout the
watershed, the snow pillows provide continuous, real-time data on
snowpack water content.
Under the Flexible Flow Management Plan, which is intended to provide
a more adaptive means for managing the Cannonsville, Pepacton, and
Neversink reservoirs, DEP includes half of the water content in the
snowpack in the total storage for its Delaware reservoirs. Accounting
for this snowpack water allows DEP to enhance the flood attenuation
already provided by the reservoirs.
DEP manages the City’s water supply, providing more than
1 billion gallons of water each day to more than 9 million residents,
including
8 million in New York City, and residents of Ulster, Orange, Putnam and
Westchester counties. Approximately 1,000 DEP employees live and work in
the
watershed communities as scientists, engineers, surveyors, and
administrative
professionals, and perform other critical responsibilities. DEP has
invested
over $1.5 billion in watershed protection programs.
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