Upstate Versus Downstate: The Feud Continues

  |  April 2, 2012

via Riverkeeper

Here at Upstater, we see a synergy between downstate and upstate. Sure, we have plenty of New Yorkers in the audience, but plenty of locals and transplants join us here every day.

So we were sad to read this story in the New York Times, outlining an ongoing dispute over the release of muddy waters — approved by the City and State — into a beloved tributary, the Lower Esopus Creek, off the city’s water supply, the Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County. “Discontent has given way to full-throttle fury against the city, which has always called the shots on reservoir management in the region,” they write.

The problem is not purely aesthetic. Or, rather, the aesthetic part — that dull brown — brings a host of other problems. “Last year, the releases from the Ashokan Reservoir turned the Lower Esopus a muddy brown, forcing the shutdown of local beaches, undermining boating, fishing and tourism, and marring the sparkling vistas that many people in Ulster County have come to see as their birthright. Now, as local residents prepare for spring rains that could result in more discharges, they worry that the tributary may never run clear.”

There may be a lawsuit, but in the meantime, what Ulster County residents want is a say in how the watershed is managed. Even if this water supply is intended for city residents to imbibe, it resides in Ulster County and has a huge effect on residents there. Sounds reasonable to us. What do you all think?

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