Learning From History To Help Guide the Future of NYC’s Crucial Watershed – State of the Planet

Increasing climate variability is threatening the water supply and exposing the fragility of the New York City watershed, which hosts the largest unfiltered water supply in the world. Columbia Climate School students had the opportunity to learn about the history of this critical reservoir system—one that supplies 10 million New Yorkers with over 1 billion gallons of safe drinking water every day—on a recent field trip.

The New York City Watershed: From Community Displacement to Collaboration and Climate Adaptation, one of four practicum courses offered annually within the sustainable development program, takes students to the Catskill Mountains to learn firsthand about the reservoir system.

Last October, students from the Undergraduate Program in Sustainable Development, the M.A. in Climate and Society and the M.S. in Sustainability Management programs traveled to the NYC watershed to hear from stakeholders who are actively involved in watershed management, environmental conservation and community advocacy in the region.

The watershed, which exists in a sensitive balance between regional economic success and environmental conservation, is comprised of 19 reservoirs and three controlled lakes. The watershed gained national and international recognition for its 1997 Memorandum of Agreement, in which local residents and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection collaborated to protect the supply from needing filtration in response to improved water quality standards. Through land-management practices, conservation easements and government-owned protected lands, the watershed region employs a variety of conservation techniques to preserve the unfiltered supply.

Students in the course learn from stakeholders about successes, controversies and future challenges surrounding the agreement. The stakeholders, some of whom have been around since the original 1997 memorandum, include artists, historians and local farmers.

Fred Huneke, a dairy farmer in the Catskill/Delaware watershed region, stressed the importance of the agreement for educating farmers on conservation and funding projects for the best farm management practices. “Well-managed farms [protect the watershed more than] denser, residential septic subdivisions,” he said.

Through the Watershed Agricultural Council (WAC), a nonprofit funded by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, farmers receive funding to manage livestock, manure and runoff and maintain practices that prioritize environmental stewardship. Farmers are able to pursue farm management projects they otherwise would not be able to afford, simultaneously promoting the economic viability of their farms and sustaining high water quality.

Similarly, the WAC, along with other regional nonprofits such as the Catskill Center, provides guidance on best practices for forest management within the watershed, which offer benefits to landowners and the water supply. Students in the course toured the model forest at Frost Valley YMCA, which serves as an example of forest management through educational tours, limited permits for hunting and logging, and biodiversity rehabilitation.

In an outdoor lecture at the Ashokan Reservoir, landscape artist Kate McGloughlin discussed the importance of learning from a fraught history between local communities and New York City as the watershed region manages upcoming challenges related to land conservation and climate change. McGloughlin’s work, Requiem for Ashokan, centers on narratives from the late 1800s through present, in which reservoir construction removed entire communities living on the land through forced displacement, including members of her own family. She works as a historian, viewing her art as an archival project to document the past and hopefully reshape future negotiations.

Worsening impacts of climate change necessitate increased land protection and restrictions on management, causing New York City to consistently buy up more land in the area. These climate impacts, which are being felt throughout the state, threaten the security of local management strategies and increase the likelihood of future need for filtration within the system. As the region copes with increased climate variability, stakeholders must consider both previous achievements and challenges to ensure future success and resilience.

As the Columbia Climate School Office of Undergraduate Programs expands its offerings, courses such as this one offer students an opportunity to engage with topics in climate and sustainable development outside of the classroom. Hearing firsthand from the community about localized approaches to management within the region gives students a unique view of successful climate policy that can be scaled up or adapted in various ways.