Well users also urged to conserve
Last week’s rainstorm slaked some of the thirst of local reservoirs but not enough as Beacon and Cold Spring keep water restrictions in place and the owner of a digging company warns well owners to also conserve water amid an ongoing drought.
Mayor Kathleen Foley said on Monday (Nov. 25) that a storm passing through the Highlands from Nov. 20 to 22 dropped 2.5 inches of rain on Cold Spring, creating mountain runoff and an 8-inch increase in the Upper Reservoir’s water level. That still left the village’s reserves at 59.7 percent of capacity, said Foley, below the threshold of 60 percent that triggered a Stage 2 water emergency on Nov. 6.
Among the conservation measures required of residents, bed-and-breakfasts and eateries are to identify and repair leaks, cease washing cars and building exteriors, and to only provide drinking water to restaurant customers upon request. If water reserves fall below 45 percent, Cold Spring would have to draw from New York City’s Catskill Aqueduct, at a cost of $1,000 per day for the 300,000 gallons residents and businesses use daily.
“We thank the public for their conscientious use of public water, and ask everyone to keep conserving in every way possible,” said Foley.
On Tuesday (Nov. 26), Ed Balicki, Beacon’s water superintendent, said the impact of the recent rain and snow on the city’s three reservoirs will not be known for several weeks, but is unlikely to end the Stage 1 water emergency announced on Nov. 20, although it may allow to city to avoid tightening conservation measures.
Beacon received 3.3 inches of rain from Nov. 21 to 23, according to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, a system of volunteer weather observers. Snow also fell on Mount Beacon, home to one of the city’s reservoirs.
City Administrator Chris White said earlier this month that the city’s two main reservoirs — the Cargill reservoir and the one atop Mount Beacon — were at 60 percent capacity. However, the city’s third reservoir, the Melzingah, is offline this time of year and is nearly full.
Along with residents and businesses served by reservoirs, those using water supplied by groundwater wells should also be conserving, said Henry Boyd, who owns the Boyd Artesian Well Co. in Carmel. The water table “has really dropped off,” and some of the telltale signs of a depleted well include a drop in pressure and dirty water, said Boyd, who has been recently “cranking out” estimates for people.
“I have a ton of people waiting — just getting by,” said Boyd, whose customers include some in Philipstown. “And you tell them, go to the laundromat to use our laundry, don’t flush the john as often as you used to and just try to conserve.”
About half of the town’s then-9,400 residents relied on well water, according to a groundwater study released in 2007. (Philipstown’s current population estimate is 9,861.) Precipitation, which averaged 48 inches annually at the time of the report, is the principal source of replenishment for those underground water supplies.
According to the report, most of the replenishment occurs in the spring and fall. In the winter, the frozen ground does not absorb as much precipitation, and in the summer, heat causes rainfall to evaporate.
Even without a drought, drillers have had to go deeper into the bedrock aquifer beneath Philipstown, according to Boyd. People desire bigger homes, personal water use is higher and development not only brings more water users but also paved surfaces that prevent rain from seeping underground, he said.
Residents who need a new well drilled or an existing one deepened are surprised at the costs — $5,000 to $10,000 to deepen a well and $10,000 to $15,000 to dig a new one, said Boyd. A new pumping system adds $5,000 to $10,000 to the price tag, depending on the well’s depth, he said.
“Everybody’s shocked at how much it costs,” said Boyd.
