Neighbors seek to drain N.Y. City’s waterreservoirs to stem future flooding

Ten lawmakers want to drain off some of the reservoirs holding New York City drinking water, claiming lower water levels will help prevent flooding in riverside communities.

House lawmakers from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and upstate New York signed on to a letter recently seeking a reduction at the Delaware River reservoirs.

Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., is trying to get the Delaware River reservoirs to be filled no more than 80 percent, citing a storm last month that nearly caused a flood. “For our constituents living along the river, this has caused great anxiety and concern,” Murphy and the other lawmakers wrote in a letter to the Delaware River Basin Commission.

The other Pennsylvania lawmakers aligned with Murphy are Christopher Carney, Chaka Fattah, Paul Kanjorski, Robert Brady, and Joe Sestak.

Two New York lawmakers, Kirsten Gillibrand and Michael Arcuri, are also in favor of imposing new limits on the reservoirs, as are New Jersey Reps. Christopher Smith and Robert Andrews.

“Our residents have lived through three floods in three years,” the lawmakers wrote.

A spokesman for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection said the system is designed to guard against drought. “You’re striking a balance, and any move towards flood protection increases the risk of drought,” said Ian Michaels. Since 1980 there have been at least six droughts.

Michaels said the parties struck a deal last year that allowed the reservoirs to drain off 125 billion gallons of water.

He argued, however, that critics who contend the reservoirs somehow contribute to flooding are wrong. “Reservoirs don’t cause floods, even when they’re 100 percent full,” he said.

Michaels said that the reservoirs, even while full, help reduce the amount of water running downstream.