Community services will be part of aqueduct repairs

ROSENDALE, N.Y. >> The New York City Department of Environmental Protection is preparing the community services needed when the Catskill Aqueduct is taken offline for repairs being done on a 4.5-mile section that goes under the Rondout Creek.

DEP project manager Emily Pereira said during a Marbletown Town Board meeting Tuesday that the efforts will include providing water for the High Falls Water District and following up on concerns from property owners affected by changing groundwater levels.

“We have been monitoring some wells in the area … and that baseline well monitoring was initiated in 2019,” she said.

Under the Neighborhood Support Program paid by the city but managed by the town, there would be relocation, replacement, or upgrades done for private wells that are affected by elevated groundwater levels related to leaks in the aqueduct.

Pereira said the parameters of the program will be determined by U.S. Geological Survey reports on how far and wide groundwater changes would affect properties. The presentation noted that the U.S. Geological Survey information should be ready in July 2023 and would report on the “magnitude and extent of influence of the leaking aqueduct on the aquifer systems.” The report is expected to include information from 48 wells and three surface water sites.

Officials added there would also be a well monitoring program in place to detect the “presence of chlorine dioxide in drinking water wells located in close proximity to known leaks” in the tunnel. They said monitoring began in 2019, with chlorination of the Catskill Aqueduct expected to begin next month.

City officials said there are still assessments being done on the number of leaks along the tunnel but they expect to have a plan for repairs of the Rondout tunnel ready in 2024 and would start work no earlier than 2027. The report stated that a 2016 interior inspection of the tunnel found “11 confirmed leak locations, line cracks and two small debris piles.”

The section will extend from Pine Bush Road to Mossybrook Road, with officials unsure of the time needed for the work.

“It depends on what the design is for the repairs,” Pereira said. “We’re still in the assessment phase.”