New York City | New York

New York City

When New York City was faced with serious water quality issues, they opted for a cost-effective win-win solution that benefited NYC tax payers and rural landowners alike. Instead of spending $10B on water filtration plant that would cost $1M per day to operated, the city invested $30M to conserve land in their watershed. This simple concept saved tax-payers billions and stimulated the rural economies in the NYC watershed. The $30M investment conserved over 23,000 acres of land. The land conserved through this program is a mix of public and private land that will remain open space land forever.

The Need

  • NYC’s 9M people use over 1B gallons of drinking water per day
  • 90% of NYC drinking water comes from the Catskills Delaware watershed
  • 10% from Croton watershed (both are considered “surface water”)

The Problem

  • Federal laws required NYC to find a way to control non-point source pollution at the source
  • NYC officials thought filtration was the only way
  • Projected project costs were $10B to build and $1M per day to operate

The Solution

  • NYC invested $30M to secure landowner conservation agreements inside the watershed
  • 23,000+ plus acres have been conserved
  • Rural economies have been stimulated
  • The health of the watershed has improved greatly.
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