*submitted to the NYT as the NY Post ignored me (how dare they!) which, statistically, the NYT probably will too. That’s okay. What is mine will come to me, and if it’s meant to be published, this opinion will find its way to print… for now, here it be.
New York City Drinks the Catskills, An Op-ed
NYC, you drink the Catskills. It’s time to show the Catskills some love. Not the ‘Dirty Dancing’ Catskills, which – while lovely – exist outside your watershed. In asking for your love, I do so on behalf of the Northern Catskills, a region that includes a small piece of northeastern Sullivan County, almost all of Delaware County, big chunks of western Ulster and Greene counties, and a thin strip of southern Schoharie County.
But you knew all this already, right? How, over time, NYC has protected and preserved its water supply, much of it in what’s called the West of Hudson Catskills Watershed, buying and impounding land, damming streams, flooding entire farms, and rural hamlets like Arena, Rock Rift, Rock Royal, Union Grove, Ashton, Bittersweet, Shavertown. Right? Maybe?
I grew up inside your watershed, aware of NYC’s reservoirs because my family drove past them daily. But I didn’t know how big the entire system was, or how much land NYC owned in my own and neighboring counties because it wasn’t taught in my school, although I can’t speak for others. After college in another upstate location, I moved to the Big Apple, where I lived for over two decades. There, I cringed whenever I saw a fire hydrant left open, unattended, spilling upstate water into the street, as along the way I had picked up a few facts with regard to where the city’s water originated.
For over a century, clean, unfiltered water from the Catskill Mountains has fueled the vitality of what is arguably the world’s greatest city. While you enjoy – often unknowingly – the benefit of the incredible ecosystem to your north and west, decades of regulatory restrictions, land purchases, and impoundments to protect water quality have profoundly impacted those who live inside the watershed, limiting our transportation options, development, opportunity, and prosperity.
The water that flows from the Catskills’ Watershed quenches the thirst of 9+ million people across the metro area, creating a partnership in which, for far too long, the communities and residents of the Catskill Mountains have been a mostly silent partner. That must change in order to ensure that all parties thrive going forward.
An idea I had over a decade ago to help address the disparities has finally come to fruition as the Catskills Campaign for the Future (CCFF) launched earlier this year. The CCFF will provide critically needed unrestricted funding for not-for-profit organizations operating within NYC’s West of Hudson watershed.
We began the fund with a generous seed gift of $1 million from a donor born and raised – and raising her own kids – in NYC; she also knows and loves the Catskills, recognizing where the need is, and what this fund will be able to do.
The fund – held by the Community Foundation for South Central N.Y. (CFSCNY) – will help sustain community organizations whose missions include improving and preserving the health, history, civic institutions and futures of those living within the watershed. The fund also seeks to raise awareness in NYC about the watershed communities and their needs, aiding in the repair of the historically uneven relationship between the Big Apple and the Catskills’ residents whose creeks, streams and springs ultimately fill NYC’s taps, tubs, and sinks, and yes, toilets.
The majority of non-profits in the Catskills operate with budgets under $1 million annually; many have budgets of under $50k with more than a dozen run entirely by volunteers or a single paid individual. These organizations and institutions are, however, essential in keeping rural communities whole; whole communities provide the workforce needed to support and protect NYC’s water, its infrastructure and continued flow; many local watershed residents work for NYC, guaranteeing that your drinking water is potable, consistent, and continually safe from harm at the source.
The CCFF is being built through donations from individuals, foundations, and businesses – primarily in NYC, as well as from the many New Yorkers who also live part-time in the watershed, where a significant second home owner population enjoys the benefit rural living entails.
We invite all who value the Catskills, even if you previously had no idea where your drinking water came from, to join us by donating to this fund. NYC, I love you. and it’s time to give back. For more information, and to give generously, please go to www.nycdrinksthecatskills.org