Review of the New York City Watershed Protection Program (2020) / Chapter Skim
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14 Frameworks for Balancing and Improved Integration
14 Frameworks for Balancing and Improved Integration
Pages 369-386
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From page 369... ...
, but rather builds on the findings of earlier chapters. PROGRAM EVALUATION In writing Chapters 5 through 12, which assess the strengths and weaknesses of the subprograms within the Watershed Protection Program, it was apparent that although NYC DEP tracks implementation, it does not necessarily track performance towards water quality objectives or conduct systematic program evaluation.
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From page 370... ...
For example, in protecting drinking water quality, NYC DEP is interested in reducing and preventing loads of turbidity, nutrients, and pathogens to its water supply reservoirs. Systematic program evaluation for each subprogram in the Watershed Protection Program will require articulating specific goals for each subprogram.
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From page 371... ...
For example, while the number of acres of land purchased, septic systems replaced, or best management practices (BMPs) implemented are tracked, NYC DEP does not assess or estimate how each subprogram contributes to reducing pollutant loads or broader water quality objectives.
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From page 372... ...
. Applying Formal Evaluation to the NYC DEP Watershed Protection Program The evaluation approach described above can be applied to the Watershed Protection Program as a whole, to individual subprograms, and to components within each subprogram.
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From page 373... ...
For example, what may be most effective for water quality might have undesirable community vitality impacts. Methods from fields of "structured decision-making" and "multi-attribute decision analysis" can help guide and organize how NYC DEP approaches this complexity (Dodgson et al., 2009; Gregory et al., 2012; Runge et al., 2013)
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From page 374... ...
It may even lead to negative benefits, in an economic and operational sense, such as where excessive removal of minerals from a drinking water system increases the acidity of water and hence its tendency to leach metals from distribution system pipes. For the usual case of diminishing incremental benefits, it is best to balance investments across activities so the incremental contributions of each activity to the overall objective are equal.
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From page 375... ...
, with a summing of incremental benefits of reducing contaminant k multiplied by the incremental reduction of contaminant k by investment in subprogram i. For New York City, drinking water safety is a function principally of four major con stituents: turbidity, pathogens, phosphorus, and dissolved organic carbon, each important at different stages of water delivery from reservoirs to disinfection to customer delivery (such that m = 4)
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From page 376... ...
Most components of the Watershed Protection Program currently lack sufficient data or analysis to estimate such removal curves. The practical management lesson from this result is, again, that investments in diverse watershed management programs should be made so that the incremental contribution of each program (and components within each program)
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From page 377... ...
This can increase flexibility to select watershed management actions that also support watershed community vitality with little or no adverse influence on water quality improvement. Qualitative Balancing of Current NYC Watershed Management Programs Because of the lack of performance monitoring data and information (e.g., the amount of phosphorus or other contaminant abatement per dollar invested in each program)
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From page 378... ...
These conclusions -- that additional investment in many programs would produce only small or very small improvements in water quality -- are expected for mature, well-managed and well-resourced programs. TABLE 14-3 Overall Assessment of the Incremental Benefits of Increased Investment in Individual Programs of the New York City Watershed Protection Program Drinking Water Quality Community Vitalityb Program Area Individual Program Current Improved Current Improved Program Program Program Program Wastewater WWTPs Very small Small Small Small Septic systems Small Medium Medium Medium Land Land Acquisition Program Very small Medium Negative Medium management Recreation Very small Very small Small Not assessed Agriculture Watershed Agricultural Small Large Medium Large Program Erosion and Stream Management Medium Medium Medium Medium flooding Program Stormwater Stormwater programs Small Small Small Medium Ecosystem Forestry programs Medium Medium Medium Large programsa Public health Waterfowl management Small Small Small Small Pathogen monitoring Small Small Small Small Waterborne disease Small Small Small Small surveillance a The ecosystem programs on Invasive Species and Wetlands are omitted in this evaluation due to their small size.
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From page 379... ...
The wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) programs, pathogen monitoring, waterborne disease surveillance, waterfowl management, and recreation programs have small or very small potential to further improve drinking water quality, TABLE 14-4 Qualitative Assessment of Incremental Drinking Water Quality Improvements from Additional Investments in Different Watershed Protection Program Activitiesa Incremental Large Medium Small Very Small None Negative effectiveness Current Program - SMP Septic sytems WWTPs None None drinking water quality WFP WAP LAP Stormwater Recreation Pathogen monitoring Waterborne disease surveillance Waterfowl Improved Program WAP Septic systems Stormwater WWTPs None None - drinking water LAP Pathogen monitoring Recreation quality SMP Waterborne disease WFP surveillance Waterfowl a Re-ordering Table 14-3 by classifications from Figure 14-2.
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From page 380... ...
Unless reoriented, the Land Acquisition Program is a good candidate for shifting investments to other programs with higher incremental water quality benefits, such as the Stream Management Program and the Watershed Agricultural Program. This is especially true considering the negative community vitality aspects of the Land Acquisition Program (see Table 14-4)
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From page 381... ...
Having common water quality modeling across programs would provide a basis to better inform resource allocations within and among programs. It might be most useful to have two watershed models, one a mechanistic watershed quality model (such as the Soil and Water Assessment Tool, SWAT)
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From page 382... ...
While the owner would have sold the property, the cost of repaying the Watershed Agricultural Council for the easement on the 20 acres needed for the leach field was too high. Similarly, a proposed community septic system in DeLancy could not be constructed due to easements on suitable sites, so a Septic Maintenance District was created instead (which provides some water quality benefit, but likely less than a properly sited community septic system would have)
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From page 383... ...
Having all of these monitoring efforts contribute to an enhanced Annual Water Quality Report by NYC DEP would help improve the consistency and utility of this information (as recommended in Chapter 12)
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From page 384... ...
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The 1997 MOA and Watershed Protection Program have largely succeeded in maintaining or enhancing water quality for the NYC water supply system and providing sustained investments to enhance the economic vitality of watershed communities. Active and evolving partnerships with the Catskill Watershed Corporation, Watershed Agricultural Council, and many other organizations and agencies show the potential -- and tradeoffs -- of balancing water quality protection with community vitality.
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From page 385... ...
This reallocation of funds is based on the seemingly small incremental contributions of the Land Acquisition Program to drinking water quality and its negative effects on community vitality, compared with the likely improvements to water quality from additional resources provided to these other programs. Enhanced communication and coordination across the subprograms of the Watershed Protection Program, partner organizations, and watershed counties and towns (as envisioned in the Memorandum of Agreement)
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From page 386... ...
2019. Phosphorus reduction in the New York City water supply system: A water quality success story confirmed with data and modeling.
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