{"id":34904,"date":"2024-11-04T18:33:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T18:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/?p=34904"},"modified":"2024-11-04T18:33:00","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T18:33:00","slug":"mayor-adams-issues-citywide-drought-watch-orders-city-agencies-to-develop-water-conservation-plans-urges-new-yorkers-to-start-conserving-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/archives\/34904","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Adams issues citywide drought watch, orders city agencies to develop water conservation plans, urges New Yorkers to start conserving water"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: New York city Mayor Eric Adams and New York city Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala issued a citywide drought watch amid a historic lack of precipitation, ordering city agencies to update water conservation plans and prepare to implement them, and urging the public to help conserve every drop possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The announcement comes as New York City concludes a historically dry October, which saw the second-longest dry streak in city records dating back to 1869. Conserving water will slow the depletion rate of the stored water in city reservoirs and can potentially postpone or eliminate the threat of a serious shortage.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Yorkers come together in times of crisis, and right now, amidst the dryest spell in recent memory, we need New Yorkers to do just that and conserve as much water as possible,\u201d said\u00a0Mayor Adams.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to do our part as a city as well, which is why I\u2019m ordering our city agencies to update their water conservation plans and prepare to implement them imminently. By starting to save water now, we\u2019re doing everything we can to make sure that we can water our parks and fill our pools come summer, and to stave off a more serious drought emergency.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage all New Yorkers to take this drought watch seriously and conserve water where you can. While water conservation is always essential, it is particularly crucial during extended dry periods, such as those experienced in New York state throughout this fall,\u201d said\u202f<\/strong>Chief of Staff and Extreme Weather Coordinator Camille Joseph Varlack.<\/p>\n

\u201cImplementing voluntary water conservation measures now can help prevent the need for more stringent restrictions in the future. The administration is ready to implement immediate measures across city agencies to conserve water\u00a0and stands prepared to take further actions if required.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTime and again, New Yorkers\u2019 resiliency shines through the hardest of days. Now, we ask all New Yorkers to step up and do their part to conserve water during this historically dry season, helping us avoid some of the worse impacts of drought,\u201d said\u00a0<\/strong>Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen every New Yorker makes even small changes, like turning off the tap when washing hands, brushing teeth, and doing dishes, we save millions of gallons by the minute.\u201d\u202f<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOctober was the driest October on record, which has resulted in minimal inflow to replenish the reservoirs,\u201d said\u00a0DEP Commissioner Aggarwala.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of this, a drought watch has been declared, and we must now take immediate action. All of us who rely on the city\u2019s water supply, including 8.3 million consumers in the city and another 1.5 million upstate, must make concerted efforts to conserve water.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we work closely with DEP to enhance city agencies’ water shortage response plans and ensure a coordinated effort across all levels of government, I want New Yorkers to know we all have a role to play in conserving our city’s water, one of our most precious resources,\u201d said\u00a0New York City Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy taking small but meaningful steps, such as running the washer and dishwasher only when full, to taking shorter showers, and educating your fellow New Yorkers about the drought watch, we can make a huge impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

A drought watch is the first of three levels of water conservation declarations by the city. As conditions continue to evolve, the city may declare a drought warning or, subsequently, a drought emergency, which involve\u00a0escalating requirements to reduce water usage at city agencies and on New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

Keeping reservoir levels high is even more important given the city\u2019s current repair work on the\u00a0$2 billion Delaware aqueduct repair project, DEP\u2019s largest-ever infrastructure repair project that will prevent a decades-old, 35-million-gallon-per-day leak under the Hudson River.<\/p>\n

During the ongoing final phase of construction \u2014 which includes connecting a 2.5-mile parallel tunnel to bypass the leak \u2014 DEP is drawing on increased amounts of drinking water coming from the Croton Watershed, the city\u2019s oldest upstate water supply. However, the watershed has seen below-average rainfall over the last month \u2014 receiving only .81 inches of rain this October, compared to historical averages of 3.81 inches of rain for the month. DEP will continue to analyze current and forecasted reservoir levels for their impacts to the project.<\/p>\n

Mayor Adams urged all New Yorkers to do their part to conserve water. New York City\u2019s average daily water demand has decreased by approximately 35 percent over the past several decades.<\/p>\n

During its peak\u00a0in 1979, the city\u2019s average water usage was 1.5 billion gallons of water a day. Thanks to improved management strategies \u2014 systemwide leak detection and repairs, replacing old meters with automated meter readers, and providing an online platform for customers to track and monitor water use and quickly detect leaks in their buildings \u2014 the city now uses just 1.1 billion gallons a day on average, and under 1 billion gallons during the winter months.<\/p>\n

DEP manages the nation\u2019s largest municipal water supply system, which provides high-quality drinking water each day to nearly 10 million residents, including 8.3 million in New York City.<\/p>\n

The water is delivered from a watershed that extends more than 125 miles from the city, comprising 19 reservoirs and three controlled lakes. Approximately 7,000 miles of water mains, tunnels, and aqueducts bring water to homes and businesses throughout the five boroughs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: New York city Mayor Eric Adams and New York city Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala issued a citywide drought watch amid a historic lack of precipitation, ordering city agencies to update water conservation plans and prepare to implement them, and urging the public to help conserve every drop possible. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":27987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1469,31,1378],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-york","category-news","category-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34904"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34905,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34904\/revisions\/34905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}