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Filtration Avoidance Determination
Mid-Course Review
Key Findings and Recommendations
While the City has made great strides in many areas of its Watershed Protection Program, it must implement a number of corrective actions for specific FAD Tasks and program enhancements to ensure the long-term viability of filtration avoidance. This section outlines EPA's most significant findings and recommendations concerning the City's Watershed Protection Program. EPA concludes that, in order for the City to maintain filtration avoidance, these recommendations must be substantially addressed prior to EPA's next filtration determination, set for April 2002. Furthermore, EPA has included a number of additional findings and recommendations in the detailed sections of the report that are intended to assist the City in enhancing its Watershed Protection Program.
Introduction
EPA's Filtration Avoidance Determination (FAD) applies to the City's Catskill/Delaware drinking water supply system. This system consists of the four Delaware reservoir watersheds (Cannonsville, Pepacton, Neversink and Rondout) and the two Catskill reservoir watersheds (Ashokan and Schoharie) west of the Hudson River. Since the Delaware aqueduct connects directly with the West Branch Reservoir and since water from the Catskill/Delaware system is normally discharged into the Kensico Reservoir, the system also includes the West Branch-Boyd's Corner Reservoir and Kensico Reservoir watersheds, both east of the Hudson River.
EPA's FAD requires that "prior to the April 15, 2002 determination, the EPA, in consultation with the City and NYSDOH, will formally review and evaluate the City's compliance with the terms and conditions of the 1997 FAD by April 15, 2000." In addition, the Watershed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) requires that EPA review "the City's compliance with the terms and conditions of the 1997 FAD ... on or before May 31, 2000."
This review evaluates the City's compliance with the terms and conditions of the 1997 FAD, thereby meeting EPA's obligation under the FAD and the MOA. In addition, it makes recommendations for enhanced watershed protection intended to increase the prospects that the City will qualify for long-term filtration avoidance. A comprehensive, mid-course review is in the best interest of all watershed stakeholders. It allows EPA to identify the elements of the City's current watershed protection program that need immediate attention, and to identify the overarching issues that need to be addressed by the City in the longer-term. To all stakeholders, this review offers a clear picture of what EPA considers necessary to implement an effective water supply protection program in the New York City watershed. In short, this review will help set the stage for a future FAD.
EPA has taken a critical look at the watershed protection programs, their objectives, the strategies in place to meet those objectives, and the City's capabilities to determine whether those objectives are being met. A fundamental shift is taking place in the filtration avoidance program. Since the first conditional FAD was issued in January 1993, the primary focus has been on developing and implementing watershed protection and remediation programs. As these programs move from the planning to the implementation phase, it becomes imperative that resources be targeted to program evaluation and to program enhancement.
The mid-course review has also provided an additional opportunity to hear from watershed stakeholders whose interest in, and support for, the City's watershed protection efforts will influence the success or failure of the program. EPA believes that long-term filtration avoidance is dependent on the involved communities being participants in shaping, implementing and supporting the programs and actions to protect the watershed. EPA actively solicited stakeholder input through a number of venues, including public information sessions and small-group meetings, and considered this process a very important element of the review. EPA appreciates the many invaluable comments that it received; this input is reflected throughout EPA's FAD mid-course review. Some comments, however, were directed at significant watershed protection issues that are beyond the scope of the FAD. To ensure that all comments are appropriately addressed, EPA is currently developing a document that responds to concerns that were raised during the FAD mid-course review.
Objective Criteria Compliance
Since the inception of the 1997 FAD, NYCDEP has successfully demonstrated that the Objective Criteria for filtration avoidance have been met. The City's strategy to comply with the Objective Criteria tasks of the FAD meets the requirements of the Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR) for unfiltered water supplies. Water quality data analysis shows that fecal coliform levels, turbidity and disinfectant byproduct levels are all within acceptable limits. NYCDEP has never incurred a monthly maximum contaminant level (MCL) violation, and there has not been an acute MCL violation since 1994. The 0.10 mg/l MCL for total trihalomethanes has never been exceeded. And finally, distribution system monitoring has shown that adequate (detectable) disinfectant concentrations are being maintained throughout the distribution system in compliance with the requirements for unfiltered systems. In accordance with the Total Coliform Rule (TCR) (enforcement of which is delegated to the New York State Department of Health), the City must take a minimum of 480 samples per month to determine compliance with the TCR and SWTR. ("Compliance" sampling sites are located on distribution mains 20 inches in diameter or less which serve water directly to consumers.) In fact, NYCDEP takes approximately 960 samples/month for compliance purposes. In addition, it takes approximately 350 surveillance samples/month throughout the distribution system.
In support of the Objective Criteria requirements of the SWTR, the FAD requires that the City implement two programs to prevent contamination of the drinking water supply through the distribution system: the Low Chlorine Residual Remediation Program and the Cross Connection Control Program. The Low Chlorine Residual Remediation Program has succeeded in meeting its goals. Chlorine residuals have been detectable at all the compliance and surveillance sampling locations. The Cross Connection Control Program adequately addresses EPA's concern about potential cross connection contamination in the distribution system. A mechanism to address complaints and to inspect all facilities that may have cross connections is currently in place.
In addition to the current filtration avoidance criteria in the SWTR and the new criteria in the Interim Enhanced SWTR (effective 2002), EPA has an advisory committee discussing future disinfectant byproduct and surface water treatment requirements. The advisory committee, chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, includes a member representing large unfiltered systems. The committee will be discussing, and may recommend, additional filtration avoidance criteria. Any new criteria may have to be met as early as May 2005 (based on these rules being finalized in May 2002). If new criteria are promulgated, EPA and New York City will need to address those criteria as part of any future filtration avoidance determination. EPA notes that NYCDEP maintains a qualified professional science and engineering staff to anticipate and understand potential new rule changes that may impact monitoring and water quality control components of the FAD. In addition, NYCDEP personnel actively participate on workgroups formed by EPA to address drinking water rule revisions.
Disease Surveillance Program
The overall objectives of the Disease Surveillance Program are to track the incidence of, and gather epidemiological data on, two waterborne diseases, giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis, and to develop/maintain a system to detect disease outbreaks of possible waterborne transmission. The City's strategy to address the specific objectives of the 1997 FAD was to implement four interlocking programs: (1) active disease surveillance for giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis, (2) sentinel surveillance for waterborne disease outbreak detection, (3) epidemiological studies, and (4) educational outreach.
Although active disease surveillance is subject to under-reporting, it is an important element of the City's multi-tiered Disease Surveillance Program. The City's Outbreak Detection Program is to be commended. The City collects data from three surveillance sources to detect trends across surveillance programs. New York City is breaking ground in this still-developing field, and some of its program elements were featured in a 1997 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention manual, Cryptosporidium and Water: A Public Health Handbook. In addition, the City's outreach and education efforts to date have been impressive. Over the last several years, NYCDEP and the New York City Department of Health have made presentations to physicians and other health care providers on, among other issues, the need to request specific laboratory testing for cryptosporidiosis when the disease is suspected. EPA has made a number of recommendations in Chapter II which, if implemented, should further enhance the Disease Surveillance Program.
Land Acquisition
Land acquisition is one of the most effective and, therefore, vital mechanisms to permanently protect the City's Catskill/Delaware watershed. The overarching goal of the Land Acquisition Program is to ensure that undeveloped, environmentally-sensitive watershed lands remain protected, and that the watershed continues to be a source of high-quality drinking water to the City and upstate counties. Its success is critical to EPA's continuance of filtration avoidance for the Catskill/Delaware system.
EPA commends the City for meeting all of its solicitation goals as outlined in the FAD and MOA at the three-year point in the Land Acquisition Program (January 21, 2000). To date, the City has shown significant progress in acquiring land in a number of basins, particularly West Branch, where it has acquired or executed purchase contracts on 5,389 acres, or 38% of the land it has solicited. Unfortunately, progress is poor in Kensico, probably the most critical watershed in the Catskill/Delaware system, where, out of 1000 acres available for solicitation, only 17 acres (2% of the land that has been solicited) have been acquired or are under contract. NYCDEP has stated that it is actively negotiating with a number of landowners and that it expects to make additional purchases in the Kensico basin shortly. EPA strongly recommends that the City
re-double its efforts, using all means available, to acquire land or conservation easements to protect the remaining open space in the Kensico watershed. To that end, EPA recommends that the City develop an intensive solicitation/acquisition strategy, specific to the Kensico watershed, and report on the progress of implementing that strategy to EPA within one year's time. If significant progress in acquiring land or easements is not made in the near term, the City must work with the local governments to ensure that they use their land use authorities to protect this vitally important Catskill/Delaware watershed. In light of the lack of program progress thus far in Kensico, EPA has particular concerns regarding the use of Nationwide Permits for wetlands fill projects in the Kensico watershed. EPA has recommended to the New York District of the Army Corps of Engineers that use of Nationwide Permit 39 be prohibited from use in the watersheds east-of-Hudson. This would ensure that any development project that impacts wetlands is subject to a full review under the federal wetlands regulatory program.
In accordance with the FAD, the City has completed soliciting land in Priority Areas 1 and 2. EPA recommends that the City continue its efforts to acquire critical watershed lands by periodically re-soliciting landowners in Priority Areas 1 and 2. In the remaining years of the Land Acquisition Program, the City is scheduled to solicit land only in Priority Areas 3 and 4. With this shift, the City will have much more flexibility in deciding which land to solicit. EPA recommends that the City develop a plan to prioritize the solicitation of land in Priority Areas 3 and 4. EPA recommends that the plan make full use of the City's water quality monitoring data and terrestrial models, and that it include a direct link to the objectives of the Stream Management and Wetlands Protection Programs. EPA recommends that the City maximize use of its Geographic Information System (GIS) to facilitate these efforts.
Watershed Agricultural Program
The overall objective of the Watershed Agricultural Program (WAP) is to prevent pollution, and to improve water quality, by reducing pollutants leaving the farm through the implementation of "best management practices" (BMPs). The WAP is designed to meet this objective through the voluntary development and implementation of Whole Farm Plans on at least 85% of the farms in the New York City watershed. A secondary objective of the WAP is to conduct scientific research in support of agricultural management practices utilized in the watershed. Through December 1999, each of the key milestones required by the FAD has been met. Almost 90% of the farms in the watershed are participating in the WAP. Furthermore, a satisfactory level of program implementation has been achieved to date, with 73% of watershed farms currently executing approved Whole Farm Plans.
The program addresses a broad geographic area which is a significant source of pathogens, phosphorus and sediment. The program has implemented BMPs that are widely accepted as having the potential for reducing agricultural pollutants and resulting runoff. Examples of BMP categories include (1) improved herd health (which decreases the potential number of pathogens available for transport to a waterbody), (2) redirection of clean runoff away from areas with high concentrations of contaminants (which decreases the pollutant load reaching the waterbody), and (3) identification of hydrologically sensitive areas to avoid manure spreading (which decreases the runoff of pollutants). Over 1,000 BMPs have been instituted to date. In addition, the WAP has continued to advance program goals through several initiatives not required by the FAD, such as the Forestry, Whole Farm Easement and Conservation Reserve Enhancement Programs. These programs provide additional opportunities for pollution prevention, and provide incentives for farmer participation. They also demonstrate a strong commitment by NYCDEP, and by the Watershed Agricultural Council, to conducting an integrated, multi-tiered Watershed Agricultural Program. New York City is commended for supporting these initiatives, which go beyond the requirements of the FAD.
To fully evaluate the effectiveness of the WAP in maintaining or enhancing water quality, the reduction of pollutant loads by the implementation of Whole Farm Plans must be determined. Water quality monitoring and water quality models are tools to aid in this determination. NYCDEP and the Watershed Agricultural Council have secured funds to conduct monitoring in the Town Brook sub-basin. In addition, Delaware County, in support of its Phosphorus Reduction Strategy, has obtained funds to conduct a study of the reduction of agricultural phosphorus through intensive forage management. Also, NYCDEP conducts extensive routine monitoring in the Cannonsville Reservoir basin. A monitoring program is in place to measure water quality at one farm, and additional monitoring to evaluate management practices is scheduled to begin this year. As the WAP matures, and the program moves from planning to implementation, these and other efforts will be necessary to determine the overall impact of the WAP on water quality. EPA has made a number of recommendations in Chapter IV which, if implemented, should further enhance the Watershed Agricultural Program.
Kensico Modeling and Remediation Programs
The Kensico Reservoir, in central Westchester County, is the terminal reservoir for the City's Catskill/Delaware water supply system. Under normal operating conditions, almost all water from the Catskill/Delaware watersheds (which supplies 90% of the City's water) flows through the Kensico Reservoir, prior to being chlorinated and sent to the City via the Catskill and Delaware aqueducts. The overall objective of the Kensico Modeling and Remediation Programs is to improve water quality in the Kensico Reservoir by identifying sources of contaminants and by instituting appropriate source prevention and remediation measures. The City has instituted numerous program elements to meet this objective.
The Kensico Stormwater Control Program (KSWCP) is one of four programs recommended in NYCDEP's 1995 Kensico Water Pollution Control Study. The objective of the KSWCP is to identify and remediate the sources of fecal coliform bacteria and turbidity being conveyed to the Kensico Reservoir by stormwater runoff, through the implementation of source reduction and pollutant removal BMPs. Although the City was late in implementing Phase I of the program, it expects to complete the entire program by the end of 2000, well before the completion date specified in FAD (mid-2002). A contract has been awarded, and a contractor is in the field installing BMPs. EPA commends NYCDEP for expediting construction and pursuing an aggressive target completion date of 4th quarter 2000 for the entire Kensico Stormwater Control Program. The long-term success of the KSWCP will be gauged by water quality improvement in stormwater flow entering the Kensico Reservoir. Thus, evaluating the effectiveness of the Kensico stormwater BMPs is critical. NYCDEP recently completed a stormwater monitoring plan for this purpose.
Under the 1997 FAD, NYCDEP was required to complete the Kensico Maintenance Dredging Program by the end of October, 1998. The City successfully completed the program on May 12, 1999. Although 6 months late, the FAD objective was satisfied. By removing the sediment adjacent to Shaft 18 and the Catskill Upper Effluent Chamber, the City eliminated a potential source of turbidity and fecal coliform bacteria which, if resuspended during storm events, could have contaminated the City's water supply.
Gull and waterfowl roosting near effluent chambers and other areas around the Kensico Reservoir were a dominant source of fecal coliform bacteria loading in the reservoir through the early 1990s. The objective of the City's Waterfowl Management Program is to eliminate roosting birds from the Kensico Reservoir during the migratory season, thereby eliminating a significant source of contamination to the reservoir, and substantially improving water quality. Since implementation of this program, fecal coliform bacteria levels have decreased dramatically in the fall-winter months, and seasonal bypassing of Kensico (a common event in the early 1990s) has not been necessary since 1993. The City has noted that Rondout and West Branch reservoirs show seasonal waterfowl population increases similar to those seen at Kensico, and that these increases seem to coincide with increases in coliform levels entering Kensico. Therefore, control of fecal coliform sources in these reservoirs is also important. EPA recommends that NYCDEP expand its Waterfowl Management Program to the Rondout and West Branch Reservoirs in order to continue to reduce the risk of fecal coliform bacteria loading in the Kensico Reservoir (and in the Catskill/Delaware system in general).
The City also includes the following programs to support its protection and remediation efforts in Kensico: (1) a temporary curtain wall between the Catskill Upper Effluent Chamber and Malcolm Brook, (2) wastewater evaluation and control, (3) ground water monitoring, (4) surface water monitoring (reservoir and streams), (5) Kensico Water Quality Model, and (6) public education and outreach. EPA has conducted a detailed evaluation, with recommendations, on all of the above programs; this evaluation can be found in Chapter V of the report. As these programs move into the implementation and monitoring phase, EPA will continue to evaluate whether additional measures (e.g., stormwater BMPs) are necessary to protect the Kensico Reservoir.
Non-Point Source Control Programs
The objective of the NYCDEP's Non-Point Source Control Programs is to reduce or eliminate pollutant runoff from reaching the City's reservoirs and reservoir tributaries. Non-point source pollution is generated from a diversity of sources: failing septic systems, nutrient and pesticide application on landscaped and agricultural areas, inadequate road sand and salt storage, erosion from construction sites, unstable stream reaches and poorly managed timber operations, and runoff from impervious surfaces. Programs addressing non-point sources of pollution are being implemented by the City, or by others through City funding, in the Catskill/Delaware basins located west-of-Hudson. Some of these programs are highlighted in the "Key Findings and Recommendations" section; most are critiqued, in detail, in subsequent chapters.
Non-point source pollution mitigation programs are also eligible for funding under the
City-funded ($68 million) east-of-Hudson Water Quality Investment Program. However, there is no assurance that this county-directed program will address non-point source pollution, let alone non-point source pollution in the Catskill/Delaware basins located east-of-Hudson. EPA recommends that NYCDEP develop a detailed strategy to address non-point sources of pollution in the Catskill/Delaware basins located east-of-Hudson. EPA recommends that this strategy focus on key non-point sources of pollution such as stormwater runoff, failing septics and streambank erosion.
Stream Restoration and Turbidity
NYCDEP's Stream Management Program addresses turbidity emanating from damaged stream reaches. Geomorphic restorations will improve overall water quality in affected watershed streams and receiving reservoirs. To date, NYCDEP has made significant progress in implementing the first element (education, training and public outreach) of its strategy. However, NYCDEP's implementation of the strategy's final element (development of Stream Management Plans and implementation of demonstration projects) has experienced significant delays. The success of the outreach effort has generated considerable expectation among the Catskill communities that project implementation is imminent. There is a window of opportunity that the City must seize for this program to be successful.
Although the City has completed one demonstration project along the Batavia Kill, a number of stream restoration projects are "stuck" in the pipeline (e.g., Broadstreet Hollow). Integral to providing a framework to all of these projects are Stream Management Plans, none of which has been completed. EPA strongly recommends that NYCDEP expedite completion of Stream Management Plans in priority sub-basins, and expedite completion of demonstration projects at Broadstreet Hollow, Big Hollow, Stony Clove, Red Falls and the West Branch of the Delaware River. EPA also recommends that NYCDEP begin Stream Management Plans in other sub-basins targeted in its Stream Management Plan implementation schedule.
Success of the program will be partly established through biomonitoring data taken along streams near restoration projects. NYCDEP submitted its first biomonitoring report in January 2000, five years after the biomonitoring effort began; it acknowledges work to be done. Turbidity monitoring, keyed to specific restoration projects, is also necessary to assess program effectiveness and water quality improvement. EPA recommends that NYCDEP expand its biomonitoring and pre- and post-remediation turbidity monitoring to measure the water quality benefit derived from its Stream Management Program. In addition, EPA recommends that the City evaluate, interpret and present these data on a more frequent basis.
Wetlands
Wetlands play a major role in watershed protection. Preventing the further loss or degradation of remaining wetlands in the watershed is an important objective of the City's Wetlands Protection Program. Success of the City's Program is measured through monitoring the change in wetlands acreage and functions over time. Currently the Program contains no methodology to quantify these changes and, thus, is not geared towards measuring success. The 1997 National Wetlands Inventory, and recent studies on wetlands trends and characteristics in the Croton watershed (1999) are a step in the right direction. EPA recommends that the City:
Develop an objective measure of progress for its Wetlands Protection Program;
Expand the wetlands function analysis it performed in the Croton watershed to the entire Catskill/Delaware watershed;
Review all Pre-construction Notifications under the Army Corps of Engineers' Nationwide Permit Program to mitigate wetland losses, and to recommend to the Corps that proposed fill projects that may negatively impact water quality go through the Individual Permit process; and
Analyze wetlands trends, document wetlands losses/gains, and direct its Wetlands Protection Strategy accordingly.
In addition, EPA recommends that NYSDEC and the City work with communities to reclassify those wetlands of "unusual local importance" as State wetlands.
The stated goal of the City's wetlands protection strategy is to "protect wetlands in the watershed." Recognizing the importance of wetlands, the federal Clean Water Action Plan sets a goal of reversing the trend of wetlands loss nationwide with a net increase of 100,000 acres each year, beginning in 2005. Consistent with the Clean Water Action Plan, and considering the vital role that wetlands play in the New York City watershed, EPA recommends that the City set a goal of increasing wetlands acreage in the watershed.
Community Outreach and Education
For the City's Watershed Protection Program to be truly successful, it must be understood, accepted, and ultimately embraced by those who live in the watershed and those who drink its water, all of whom are stakeholders in protecting the City's water supply reservoir system. There will always be conflicts (economic, social, and environmental), but a strengthened knowledge of watershed issues and environmental awareness among all stakeholders will facilitate conflict resolution and improve the chances of program success. NYCDEP has initiated, or is an active participant in, a number of excellent outreach/education efforts. In addition, the City has significantly enhanced its webpage by providing weekly pathogen monitoring data, the Waterborne Disease Risk Assessment Annual Report, and periodic updates of watershed protection efforts.
Although laudable, the City's education efforts are generally geared to specific watershed programs. Comments to EPA during the mid-course FAD review suggested that NYCDEP could improve its relationships with upstate and downstate communities by providing more avenues, tailored to meet community needs, for public input on general watershed issues. An effective feedback mechanism needs to be developed so that the City hears about issues before they become full-blown, intractable problems forcing residents to take sides. In order to assist the City in its watershed protection efforts, EPA recommends that NYCDEP strengthen communication with, and forge partnerships with, watershed communities. Specifically, EPA recommends that the City:
Engage communities with watershed workshops, periodic town meetings, citizen advisory committees, newsletters and public opinion surveys;
Develop a public notification protocol to address pathogens entering the water supply system and spikes in disease surveillance/outbreak detection data. (This is an important step in preventing/containing an outbreak of waterborne gastrointestinal illness); and
Enhance its webpage with (1) FAD (and other) watershed protection/water quality monitoring reports, (2) notices of upcoming meetings, and (3) access to NYCDEP's GIS data layers.
Septic Systems
NYCDEP has met the conditions of the 1997 FAD by establishing a mechanism and prioritization scheme to ensure that septic system failures are adequately addressed in the west-of-Hudson watershed. Failing septics are primarily addressed through the Septic System Rehabilitation and Replacement Program. EPA notes that the prioritization scheme set up through the Septic System Rehabilitation and Replacement Program does not include septic systems that will be addressed/remediated through other MOA programs, such as the New Sewage Treatment Infrastructure Program and Sewer Extension Program. Thus, the ultimate success of the Septic System Rehabilitation and Replacement Program, requires the expeditious implementation of both of these MOA programs.
The failure of septic systems in the New York City watershed is a widespread problem that, prior to the Septic System Rehabilitation and Replacement Program, was not adequately addressed. NYCDEP=s previous strategy for detecting failing systems was unable to discern failure of these systems until the homeowner requested an inspection, or until a neighbor filed a complaint. However, due to the economic incentives in the Septic System Rehabilitation and Replacement Program, inspectors were inundated with inspection requests, and the program became an immediate success. With an estimated 50% of septic systems in the watershed being identified as substandard, the need for septic system rehabilitation/replacements has continued to rise. However, this program has a finite budget that will be exhausted, possibly by the end of this FAD. The operation of failing septic systems within the watershed is unacceptable. EPA strongly recommends that the City establish an effective, long-term mechanism to detect and remediate failing systems which does not rely on the previous, inadequate detection system. EPA recommends that this system be established prior to the termination of the existing Septic System Rehabilitation and Replacement Program, and that it include Catskill/Delaware watersheds east-of-Hudson.
The City is spending tens of millions of dollars through several different partnership programs (discussed above) to address the problem of failing septic systems in the watershed. As borne out by the evaluation conducted by the MOA Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) in 1999, there are many factors that could lead to septic failure. The TAC study found that:
Steeper sloped sites often require sophisticated engineering design/construction techniques,
The more complicated the design, the higher the likelihood of improper construction and increased reliance on vigilant operation and maintenance (O&M), and
The majority of septic system failures occur because of improper construction and insufficient O&M.
EPA is currently evaluating outside peer reviewers' comments on the TAC's findings. But with these general findings in mind, EPA believes that it is prudent environmental policy to minimize as much as possible any factor that might add to the risk of failure of newly installed septic systems. EPA recommends that NYCDEP (with the support of NYSDOH) enforce the plain and unambiguous reading of Appendix 75-A and not allow septic systems on slopes greater than 15% and not allow septic systems that need significant grading for the expressed purpose of reducing the slope to 15%.
Significant resources have been committed to remediating failed septic systems. Proper operation and maintenance of septic systems, after they have been repaired or rehabilitated, is the most cost-effective approach to assure long-term reliability. EPA recommends that the City develop a comprehensive program, with appropriate incentives, to ensure proper operation and maintenance of septic systems in the watershed. One existing incentive is the City=s acceptance (at no cost) of pump-out waste at its new wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). This activity is important to the immediate and long-term success of the Program. Currently, however, the City is not accepting waste during winter months at certain plants. EPA recommends that the City and State expeditiously resolve this issue so that City WWTPs can accept pump-out waste on a year-round basis.
Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Inspection and Compliance Program
The objectives of the WWTP Inspection and Compliance Program are to ensure compliance with New York State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit requirements, and to reduce pollutant loading impacts from municipal and privately owned WWTPs operating in the New York City watershed. Prior to January 1994, only three out of 110 WWTPs discharging in the watershed were classified as significant municipal or industrial facilities, and were tracked in the EPA database for compliance/enforcement purposes. In addition, approximately 70% of SPDES dischargers in the watershed were not required to submit discharge monitoring reports, and were not subject to surveillance oversight by NYSDEC. By January 1994, all NYC watershed facilities east- and west-of-Hudson were elevated, by NYSDEC, to a level equivalent to EPA major status and, therefore, were required to begin submitting discharge monitoring reports. In addition, all WWTPs started to receive routine oversight by NYSDEC and NYCDEP. Since the mid-1990s, there have been numerous enhancements to the WWTP Inspection and Compliance Program; these enhancements are discussed in detail in Chapter VIII.
From 1995 to 1999, "significant non-compliance" (SNC) violations were reduced from a quarterly average of over 30% to 8%. Effluent discharge violations were reduced from 20% to 5%. All current SNC violations are being addressed through formal enforcement actions by NYSDEC and/or NYCDEP. This declining trend in SNC violation rates is a measure of the program's success to date. EPA considers 0% SNC to be an appropriate and achievable goal, as NYCDEP and NYSDEC continue to work together to implement this enhanced regulatory strategy in the watershed.
Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Program
The Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Program is a key component of the FAD. Upgrades of non-City-owned WWTPs in the watershed will have an immediate water quality impact by eliminating the discharge of pathogens, and significantly reducing the discharge of other pollutants. EPA is seriously concerned that, based on the information received to date, the City will not comply with the May 2002 upgrade completion date specified in the FAD, the City's Watershed Rules & Regulations (WR&R), and MOA. EPA strongly recommends that NYCDEP immediately accelerate completion of the Wastewater Treatment Plant Upgrade Program. The City's commitment and ability to complete this Program expeditiously will be a critical factor in determining the future of filtration avoidance. To that end, EPA requests that the City submit an action plan within 60 days which details actions the City will take to get the program back on track.
EPA notes that the City has completed the upgrades of all City-owned WWTPs within the timeframes specified in the FAD. With these upgrades, approximately 40% of the WWTP effluent discharging into the Catskill/Delaware watershed is now being treated by advanced tertiary treatment (microfiltration).
Project Review/SEQRA
For watershed projects, the City is considered an "involved agency" under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). As such, it has significant power to control environmentally unsound development in the watershed by ensuring that issues it raises during the SEQRA process are adequately addressed prior to a project moving forward. Therefore, coordination and participation in project review under SEQRA are important NYCDEP functions. From EPA's perspective, effective utilization of the City's authority under both SEQRA and the WR&R is necessary to address activities that may adversely impact water quality in the watershed.
Effective utilization of both mechanisms is particularly critical in addressing problems associated with impervious surfaces from large development projects. Reduction of impervious surfaces is a key component of good environmental design. Many studies have shown that there is an "imperviousness" threshold at which no BMPs can mitigate the additional pollutant load resulting from development. In addition, with large development projects, the uncertainties built into stormwater models (which evaluate potential impacts of stormwater runoff) are magnified. Therefore, if the City is not involved early in site design (through SEQRA) and instead waits to address all environmental concerns through the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SPPP - required under the WR&R), the result will be an SPPP that cannot meet its own objectives (i.e., no net increase in pollutant loadings over pre-existing construction conditions). Through SEQRA, the City should work to reduce the project's footprint during the planning stage --- a much more effective mechanism to reduce stormwater runoff than to rely solely on an SPPP at the end of the development process. With good environmental design, the developer can produce a workable SPPP that reduces total reliance on structural stormwater controls to mitigate pollutant runoff from a site.
While there has been recent improvement in the City's involvement in the SEQRA process, EPA strongly recommends that NYCDEP play a more consistent, active role at the earliest possible stage of the project planning process. EPA recommends that the City utilize experienced environmental land use planners to work with the applicant to limit a project's impervious surface or footprint, and to ensure that environmental concerns are addressed. In addition, EPA recommends that the City:
Map, analyze and track impervious cover in the watershed (particularly in east-of-Hudson basins) to better evaluate the thresholds at which the water quality impacts from development may be irreparable;
Support local initiatives (such as upzoning) that may provide a water quality benefit; and
Apply SPPP guidance in a consistent manner.
Finally, in order to more effectively address water quality concerns, EPA recommends that the Lead Agency under SEQRA ensure that each project applicant initiates the SPPP early in, and on a parallel track with, the project planning process.
Watershed Monitoring and Modeling - Data Analysis/Integration/Dissemination
NYCDEP conducts an extensive water quality monitoring program throughout the watershed, and throughout each of its reservoir basins. In recent years, as a result of its own internal reviews, and as a result of outside assessments, the City has significantly enhanced its monitoring program. Furthermore, the City continues to make improvements. For example, NYCDEP is aggressively developing, evaluating and implementing new analytical methods as part of its pathogen monitoring program. However, a number of issues need to be addressed as the City's watershed protection efforts move from the planning phase into the implementation and analysis phase. In its Filtration Avoidance Supplemental Annual Report (November 1999), NYCDEP recognized the importance that statistically-based trend analysis will play in assessing the effectiveness of its watershed management programs. It is paramount that the City have a monitoring network (or networks) robust enough to support rigorous trend analysis at the basin and sub-basin scales. In addition, the City's watershed-wide monitoring network must be fully integrated with other ongoing City and non-City monitoring programs that are at different watershed scales.
The City's Filtration Avoidance Supplemental Annual Report provides a conceptual framework for the types of tools that the City plans to use to measure the success of each of its watershed protection programs. For a number of protection programs, the City concludes that the measure of success will be "maintenance of high water quality and consistent compliance with regulations." For remediation programs, the City states that success will be "measured by the degree to which they can reduce pollutant loadings from entering the water supply." EPA agrees that these are appropriate objectives, but the City must take the next step --- to show that the current system is capable of measuring success. Taking this next step is fundamental to the future of filtration avoidance. EPA recommends that the City conduct a rigorous analysis of its current monitoring arrays to determine their adequacy to detect trends, and to measure pollutant reductions, within and across watershed programs, at the basin and sub-basin scales. In addition, EPA recommends that the City lay out a specific "roadmap" to show how it intends to utilize these data to measure program success. This effort may result in an expansion or rearrangement of the City's monitoring program.
Models are one of the key management tools that the City will use to evaluate its watershed programs. They will allow the City to estimate the effectiveness of particular programs and their expected impacts on future water quality. However, to take full advantage of the models, the City must "link" them to its watershed management programs. Linkage, however, requires a better understanding of the effects that local watershed protection/remediation practices have on nutrient concentrations in runoff, and requires the ability to quantify and "scale up" these relationships to the watershed scale. The City's use of terrestrial models as predictive, watershed management tools will be limited unless the effects of management practices and land use changes can be accurately quantified and translated into model input coefficients. EPA recommends that the City develop a plan for using terrestrial and reservoir models in the watershed to meet program objectives. This plan should ensure the development of accurate runoff and nutrient coefficients for input to the City's terrestrial models, and should provide an enhanced technical basis for future reservoir Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs).
EPA recognizes that the City collects a tremendous amount of data throughout the watershed. Some of these data have undergone analysis and are presented in FAD deliverables or other reports. However, EPA (as well as other stakeholders) receive very little data or analysis on a number of monitoring programs (e.g., stream and reservoir monitoring). These programs form the foundation of NYCDEP's efforts to determine the long-term effectiveness of its watershed protection and remediation programs. EPA recommends that the City develop a comprehensive strategy to integrate, analyze and disseminate the data from its watershed monitoring programs. To facilitate this effort, EPA recommends that the City reinstitute its Annual Water Quality Report (last published in 1993), and tailor it to provide analysis that is both programmatic and geographic in scope, addressing specific watershed programs, and the health of individual reservoir basins.
Total Maximum Daily Load Program
The main FAD objective for the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program is to reduce concentrations of phosphorus in the New York City water supply reservoirs to a level necessary to meet Ambient Water Quality Standards. EPA considers that another important objective of the program is to determine if the NYSDEC standard of 20ug/l is sufficient to protect the reservoirs that serve as sources of the City's drinking water supply. The TMDLs in the New York City watershed are being developed in phases. The 1997 FAD contains several milestones for Phase I and Phase II TMDL development. It outlines commitments made by NYSDEC to establish, and by EPA to take, final Agency action on the TMDLs. The FAD also contains commitments by NYSDEC to modify SPDES permits, as necessary, and to identify potential non-point source management practices to achieve TMDLs.
Although improvements have been made during Phase II, NYCDEP is continuing to refine the models used in TMDL calculations. NYCDEP is scheduled to complete eutrophication models for the west-of-Hudson reservoirs by February 2001. A similar effort has been initiated in the east-of-Hudson reservoirs. With respect to the phosphorus guidance value, NYCDEP provided a technical report to NYSDEC in March 1999 entitled, Development of a Water Quality Guidance Value for Phase II Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). This report (1) summarizes the work performed to establish a site-specific phosphorus guidance value, (2) reviews the eutrophication-use impairment information, (3) presents an analysis of phosphorus, algal biomass and related water quality parameters and (4) proposes a phosphorus guidance value of 15ug/l for source water reservoirs.
In the FAD, NYSDEC commits to proposing TMDLs within six months of receiving the Reservoir Reports. Due to an extended public comment period and the amount of comments received, NYSDEC has not yet submitted Phase II TMDLs to EPA. EPA recommends that NYSDEC expeditiously establish and ensure the implementation of Phase II TMDLs for phosphorus in the New York City Watershed. In addition, EPA recommends that NYCDEP work with NYSDEC and local governments to identify specific activities that will reduce non-point sources of phosphorus in basins that not do meet their current, applicable load allocations. Looking to the future, EPA recommends that NYCDEP work with NYSDEC to develop a workplan and schedule for NYSDEC, with City technical support, to establish Phase III TMDLs.
Catskill/Delaware Water Supply System Filtration Plant
Throughout the first half of the FAD, NYCDEP has complied with the schedule of tasks associated with the design of the Catskill/Delaware filtration plant. EPA is satisfied with the technical adequacy of NYCDEP's design efforts to date. EPA considers the continuation of these efforts to be a prudent measure in the protection of public health. In the event filtration of the Catskill/Delaware supply is deemed necessary, public participation early in the planning process will prove vital to the project's overall success. EPA, therefore, commends NYCDEP in its public outreach efforts through the establishment of the Citizen Advisory Committee.
Contact: sweeney.philip@epa.gov
