Municipal water users asked to be ‘prudent’ during aqueduct work

HVNY News + Notes

Nov 24

Written By HVNY

Municipal water users are being asked to be “prudent with their water consumption” as the New York State Department of Environmental Protection is conducting work on the Catskill Aqueduct System.

The call for conservation was officially adopted during the November 19, 2025 Village of New Paltz board meeting.

The state DEP is conducting a $2 billion multi-year project to “clean, upgrade and rehabilitate” the Catskill Aqueduct, which was built from 1907 to 1915. The aqueduct, a 92-mile-long stretch from the Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County to Hillview Reservoir in Yonkers, delivers approximately 1.1 billion gallons of drinking water a day to nearly 10 million people – providing 40 percent of New York City’s drinking water each day, in addition to serving 20 communities in Ulster, Orange, Putnam and Westchester counties.

The rehabilitation project, according to a press release from state officials, will repair the leaking sections of the 85-mile Delaware Aqueduct, the longest tunnel in the world, by connecting a 2.5-mile-long bypass tunnel around leaks discovered in the 1990s deep under the Orange County Town of Newburgh adjacent to the Hudson River. The new bypass, being connected 600 feet beneath below the river’s surface, is the first tunnel built under the Hudson since 1957, when the south tube of the Lincoln Tunnel was completed. A separate smaller leak in the Ulster County Town of Wawarsing will also be repaired when the bypass connection is made.

The project was paused last year due to drought conditions across the region. Due to the delays, the final connection is not expected to be completed until after 2027.

To complete the “largest and most complex repair history in the 180-year history of New York City’s water system supply,” the Delaware Aqueduct section of the watershed will be out of service for up to eight months to fix two integral leaks – one near the Hudson River, north of Newburgh, and the other in the Town of Warwasing in Ulster County.

The largest leak, in Newburgh, is being repaired through the construction of bypass tunnel that will connect to structurally sound portions of the existing Delaware Aqueduct. Officials say “the new bypass, being connected 600 feet beneath below the river’s surface, is the first tunnel built under the Hudson since 1957, when the south tube of the Lincoln Tunnel was completed.”

Recreational users should not see any changes in these areas, unless waterfowl become an issue:

“During the shutdown,” officials note, “DEP will monitor for excessive waterfowl at the Ashokan and may use motorboats and pyrotechnic noisemakers to disperse them and protect water quality, which may be noticeable from the Ashokan Rail Trail and Promenade.”