Saugerties Town Supervisor Fred Costello took a new photo of the falls in the Esopus Creek Tuesday afternoon because he had not seen the water this clear and pretty in a while.
Costello said lately, the creek has been colored red from clay sediment.
“When it gets to this dam, it slows down and sediment occurs,” he said during an interview on the deck at Diamond Mills, overlooking the falls.
Since 2011, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection has been allowed by the state to discharge up to 600 million gallons a day of murky overflow water from the Ashokan Reservoir into the Esopus Creek.
At a press conference at Diamond Mills Tuesday, Costello and other municipal and county leaders called on residents to file comments for the State Department of Environmental Conservation’s once-a-decade review of the water release.
What You Need To Know
- Leaders of cities and towns along the Esopus Creek are asking for the public’s help to convince the state to prohibit releases of murky water into the creek
- A group of concerned mayors and supervisors held a press conference Tuesday asking their residents to file their concerns with the state ahead of a once-a-decade review of the release protocol
- The deadline to submit comments has been extended to June 16
One kayak rental business owner said during Tuesday’s event that many tourists pass on kayaking in the murky water that has been appearing more frequently since December.
Costello also said he has heard from residents who have difficulties docking their boats. Though regular flushing is required, the sediment may be piling up, Costello said, adding that he wants each of these concerns logged with the DEC or local municipal leaders who can forward the comments.
“The original consent order has been closed. Comment has been closed for the past 10 years,” Costello explained. “The order is open now for public comment. It’s important for people who have a concern to express it at this very moment.”
Some leaders at Tuesday’s event, including Costello, also said they want the DEC to perform a study on the impact the sediment-laden water has on local ecosystems.
The deadline to submit comments to be considered in the state’s review has been extended to June 16.
Several municipal officials along the Esopus said the sediment has increased since December. A spokesperson for the NYDEP sent a statement responding to the local leaders’ hopes for a protocol change.
"We are committed to working with our regulators from the state and local elected leaders to improve the current release protocol,” the statement read, “while preserving the enhanced flood attenuation program that communities downstream of Ashokan Reservoir had long desired, and which yielded clean-water releases for nine years before the Christmas Day storm.”