CWC issues Tenth Annual Report

MARGARETVILLE, N.Y., May 2, 2007 - A decade of accomplishment is recounted in the Tenth Annual Report issued by the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC), the non-profit organization established in 1997 to develop and run water protection, economic development and education programs in the New York City Catskill/Delaware Watershed.

The report was distributed at the CWC’s Annual Meeting of Member Towns April 24, when representatives of many of the Watershed’s 50 municipalities gathered in Margaretville to mark the corporation’s beginnings and discuss current issues affecting residents and businesses.

It was January 21, 1997 when the historic New York City Watershed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was signed after several years of debate and negotiations. In order to keep New York’s primary water supply clean without filtration, the MOA required the City to fund environmental protection and other programs to be run by the locally-directed CWC.

Under terms of the MOA, the City also initially capitalized the Catskill Fund for the Future, a revolving economic development fund administered solely by the CWC which over the past ten years has distributed millions of dollars in loans and grants to businesses and organizations in the region.

Through December 30, 2006, the CWC

  • replaced 2,380 failed residential septic systems, 252 of them in 2006

  • Built 39 sand and salt storage sheds for Watershed municipalities

  • Reimbursed $2.3 million for 41 stormwater control projects associated with new construction

  • Awarded nearly $10 million in grants for some 70 municipal projects to correct or improve existing stormwater controls, assess infrastructure networks and plan repairs and upgrades

  • Completed a Community Septic System in the hamlet of Bovina Center, and launched Community Wastewater Management Projects in five more hamlets, for a total capital commitment of approximately $26 million

  • Awarded grants totaling $392,000 to ten municipalities for community planning initiatives under the Local Technical Assistance Program

  • Distributed 132 low-interest loans valued at more than $27 million to start-up businesses and to firms planning building or inventory expansions, facility improvements or other projects resulting in the creation or retention of more than 1,000 jobs

  • Expedited several emergency loans for businesses in the Village of Walton which was struck by a devastating flood in June of 2006. Funds were also allocated for emergency stream restoration work in Walton

  • Provided 122 grants to non-profit organizations and others planning community improvement, cultural enhancement and business development projects

  • Supported a number of tourism promotion efforts, and is currently developing a regional tourism and marketing web site with mapping capabilities

  • Awarded more than $1.2 million in Watershed Education grants to schools and non-profit organizations serving thousands of students in New York City and in the Catskill-Delaware Watershed

  • Coordinated five Watershed Stream Clean-ups involving hundreds of volunteers

  • Sponsored five Catskills Local Government Day events at which hundreds of Watershed officials and civic leaders received training in municipal issues and practices, and discussed topics ranging from economic development to renewable energy

  • Conducted workshops and training sessions for contractors, engineers, code enforcement officials, planners and homeowners on topics including septic system installation, stormwater design and septic maintenance

    For more information on CWC programs and activities, and to read the 2006 Annual Report, go to www.cwconline.org. Hard copies of the report can be obtained by calling Diane Galusha at 845-586-1400, ext. 29; galusha@cwconline.org





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