Operations Return to Normal At Leaking NYC Reservoir

DEPOSIT, N.Y. (AP) —

New York City officials say operations have returned to normal at an upstate reservoir as they work to permanently plug a leak near its dam.

Officials say that drinking water diversions and downstream releases from the Cannonsville Reservoir were reduced to normal levels on Sunday after repair work successfully halted the turbid discharge below the dam.

Workers drilling boring holes for a hydroelectric plant in an embankment near the dam accidentally created the leak in early July.

About a billion gallons of water a day have been drained from the reservoir west of the Catskill Mountains. City officials have assured downriver communities that the dam is safe and they are draining the water out of “an abundance of caution.”

The reservoir can hold 95.7 billion gallons and usually accounts for 12 percent of the city’s water. Since the reservoir about 120 miles northwest of city impounds water flowing down the West Branch of the Delaware River, officials must release water with an eye toward the needs of communities downriver.

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