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General News: Revised Water Plan Presented to Public
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| Orange County Planning Commissioner David Church talks about the draft water plan. |
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| The Moodna Creek and its watershed are protected by county programs. Photo by Simon Gruber. |
February 10, 2010
The village of Cornwall-on-Hudson water supply is no longer being proposed as a source of future water for Washingtonville.
That’s one of the points made on Monday evening when members of the Orange County Water Authority (OCWA) presented the agency’s revised draft water master plan at a hearing at the Orange County Citizens Foundation in Sugar Loaf.
In its original draft, the water authority proposed that the Cornwall-on-Hudson water system could be hooked up with Washingtonville, which is water-poor, to provide water if a drought or population growth created a water shortage in the neighboring village. Village mayor Joseph Gross, who has said that he wants the village, not the county, to control its water supply, was later rebuffed in an attempt to get the OCWA to appoint a municipal representative to its board.
More recently, as the village trustees faced an 18 percent hike in water rates, trustee Rick Gioia said that he is dropping his earlier opposition to the idea of selling water to neighboring municipalities as a way of increasing revenues.
Interconnections Proposed for Many Communities
The revised draft of the water plan does propose 18 connections between municipalities in Orange County. Ed Helbig, a water conservation educator with the county, emphasized that these are suggested connections that could help municipalities if they face a shortage of water.
Outside funding would have to be found for these projects, Helbig said. David Church, the commissioner of the Orange County Planning department that oversees the water authority, told the crowd of 50 people at the meeting that the OCWA has legal authority to do large-scale project financing but it lacks assets with which to fund the projects. Each project would have to be funded through the county legislature on a case-by-case basis, he said.
County vs. Local Authority
Several people in the audience questioned the authority of the water authority versus the authority of local municipalities. Marcia Jacobowitz, an attorney who serves as chair of the OCWA board, commented that her 14 years of experience on the OCWA had only reinforced her belief that the Authority form should be preserved in order to keep its function as independent of party politics as possible.
The draft water master plan will be discussed in committee at the county legislature before it is presented at a public hearing that will occur before it is voted on by the full legislature.
Copies of the new draft of the water master plan are available at waterauthority.orangecountygov.com/
NOTE: A forum on the water master plan to be held by the legislature’s democratic caucus on Wednesday, February 10 at 5:00 pm has been postponed due to inclement weather. A new date has not been set.
Comments:
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Now is no time to rest easy about Cornwall's water supply. The "Orange County Water Authority" has enormous power to borrow, bond, condemn property and levy fees under the state law which created it:
http://waterauthority.orangecountygov.com/BOARD_OF_DIRECTORS/POLICIES/Public%20Authorities%20Law,%20Creation%20of%20the%20OCWA.pdf
We in Cornwall will be wise to be vigilant about making sure that the "Water Master Plan" for Orange County cannot become a Trojan Horse for implementing as yet undisclosed plans to "share" the aquifer on which we all rely.
Hopefully, there will be more forums where public concerns can be expressed. In the meantime, make sure you express your concerns to your County Legislator, whether it be Kevin Hines in District 12 or Chris Eachus in District 15.
posted by Jon Chase on 02/10/10 at 10:54 PM
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