Lloyd, Rush and Hein at the Ashokan
WEST HURLEY – Ulster County Executive Michael Hein met with New
York City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Emily Lloyd
Tuesday morning, at the Woodstock Dyke area of Ashokan Reservoir in West
Hurley, site of a future public trail head. The visit was a consummation
of sorts for a multi-million dollar offer made last year by DEP to Ulster
County, to provide funding and infrastructure for an ambitious project
opening up the northern shores of Ashokan to public visitors.
It will be the first unfettered access policy for the reservoir in over 100 years. The work is tentatively scheduled for completion sometime in 2017.
A total of $2.5 million is on the table, a no-strings gift from NYC DEP
to Ulster County, to build 11 miles of trails. Additional funds will be
spent by DEP directly on trail head and parking facilities. Further money
is available from the state Environmental Protection Fund.
Lloyd explained that improved technology allows detailed control of water quality, and modern tests demonstrate that public access has little impact in the reservoir.
“Because we’re able to monitor it in such a fine way now, we don’t have to be quite as restrictive, as when we thought no access was the way to go,” she said.
“Water utilities have been very protective, rightfully so, on supplies. Some utilities allow absolutely no access whatsoever in their entire watersheds, where they have reservoirs,” said DEP Deputy Commissioner Paul Rush. “Through the years, especially in the last 20 years, we found building strong partnerships and working with people in the community is the best way to protect the source long term, and providing opportunities for recreation and economic development is key to that relationship.”
“There are many area businesses along the Route 28 corridor that will benefit from having the rail trail built,” Hein said.
The county legislature adopted a resolution in August of last year stating that continued rail operations would be west of the Ashokan. Without a policy change at the county level, theme based train rides would cease to operate on the Kingston section of the county-owned corridor.
Hein said he is “committed to saving tourist train operations in
Kingston,” so to that end, they have designed a compromise that
he hopes will end the conflict between the rail only and trail only advocates
and “it is my hope the Ulster County Legislature will re-align its
policy with this compromise plan.”
The county executive said having tourist train rides in Kingston and the Mt. Tremper/Phoenicia areas, as well as the rail trail from the Ashokan to the Walkway Over the Hudson, “provides the best of both worlds for the vast majority” of county residents.
Serving 8.4 million New York City water customers with 1.1 billion gallons
of drinking water daily and another one mikllion in Hudson Valley counties,
the multi-billion dollar DEP dwarfs most upstate municipalities, with
6,000 employees. Hein has locked horns with the agency in the past,
likening them to an occupying nation.
Under the new partnership with Ulster County, New York City water customers will be receiving advertising on their water bills provided by DEP, urging them to visit upstate for a scenic day trip.
