Communities like Poughkeepsie rely on safe and clean drinking water from the Hudson River.
"And we spend lots of money on making sure that our plant is state of the art and has all the latest technology to supply the safe drinking water for not only the city and town of Poughkeepsie, but other customers as well," said Poughkeepsie Mayor Rob Rolison.
The riverside municipalities of Hyde Park, Rhinebeck, Lloyd, and Esopus also depend on the river. So they're partnering with the organization Riverkeeper to maintain clean water sources and get recommendations on the best way to protect the Hudson.
The collaboration comes, in part, from the Coast Guard's proposal that would add 10 anchorages to the river, where commercial boats could dock.
"For these communities, particularly that threat of an oil spill is acute," said Riverkeeper Water Quality Program Director Dan Shapley. "There is no backup water supply, essentially. The storage capacity of maybe three or a few days for these communities. An oil spill would be devastating."
The proposal has been suspended, pending an assessment, but the municipalities and Riverkeeper want to have a voice in the Coast Guard's safety assessment. Their alliance helps them support Poughkeepsie's water treatment facility administrator as an applicant to be part of the talks scheduled for this fall.