The Precious Hudson Watershed
Rondout and Walkill Valleys Home to Some of World's Best Clean Water
By the time the Catskill Park was established in 1885, much of the peaks
and valleys that we know and love today had been stripped and destroyed.
Drinking water in the once pristine creeks was undrinkable.
Deforestation was the rule of the day. Tanneries in the Catskills cut
almost all of the old hemlock to use the bark as a die for leather; lumber
mills were churning out hardwoods; and flatlands were all cleared for livestock
grazing. The economy was booming, but the mud and industrial toxins all over the
mountains were sliding into the creeks and tributaries. The Hudson River turned
brown and residents downstream all the way to New York City complained about
poor drinking water quality.
As the romantic writings of naturalists began to gain popularity, state
residents began to urge their representatives for protection of important state
lands. Over time, after the “blue line” was created in 1904 (the boundary of
the park), the state began to prioritize purchases within the blue line.
The Catskill Park is now home to some of the world’s cleanest drinking
water and striking landscapes. The reservoir system created by New York state—including
the Ashokan, Rondout, and Pepacton—provides drinking water to New York City
residents and offers beautiful spots for local residents to enjoy fishing and
row boating. The reciprocal relationship between public and private lands in
the park is a great example of how communities can thrive within protected
lands that attract millions of visitors through ecotourism and agritourism.
Modern Day Threats
A proposal has moved quickly forward, with a great deal of opposition, to
draw natural gas out of the western Catskills of Sullivan County with a
technique know as hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”.
As companies like Halliburton vie for the right to fracture parts of the
Catskills, the EPA just announced that the drilling companies must now reveal
the ingredients of the fracturing liquid that is pumped into deep shale
deposits in order to crack the mountains. This move by the EPA was forced by
the recent passage in the Senate of the FRAC Act, Fracturing Responsibility and
Awareness of Chemicals Act.
Concerns about polluted water related to fracking have been reported in
West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Colorado—some cases being as extreme as having
flammable tap water. To learn more, a 2010 documentary called Gasland by director Josh Fox delves into
the environmental dangers of fracking . There is also extensive research
online.
Posted by Chris Hewitt
on 3:03 PM.
Filed under
Environment
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