PlanNYC And Energy Efficiency: Watersheds

PlanNYC and Energy Efficiency Name: Institution: Course: Date: Introduction Starting out in the year 1837, New York has been one of the states that enjoys clean water, thanks to the systems that were put in place. Thanks specifically to the foresight that the leaders at the time had, New York now enjoys clean water compared to very few other states that do not have to constantly treat their water. More than a billion a billion gallons of water travel hundreds of miles to get the taps of the residents in New York, within the five boroughs. The state relies on the two main watersheds, which are the Delaware and Catskills (Bloomberg, 2011). These are connected to the five boroughs through an intricate system of aqueducts, reservoirs, tunnels and even distributions lines. In perspective, there are two main watersheds that cover an area of an estimated 2,000 square miles, with 19 reservoirs as well as three controlled lakes holding an estimated 580 billion gallons of water (Bloomberg, 2011). The state has been focusing all their efforts on the protection of the watersheds in the realization that, while this may be costly, the construction and operation of an additional filtration plant is going to cost the state massively, relative to the chemicals and more importantly the energy required and the impact to the environment. Through the implementation of the protection program, the state is able to achieve the objective of providing clean water, sustainable economic growth and environmental protection. By focusing on watershed protection programs, the state of New York is also going to reduce the energy needs compared to if they were to major on water filtration as part of water treatment procedures. Watershed Protection and Energy Conservation It is crucial to understand the elements of watershed protection to visualize the impact that it has on the reduction on energy use (Bloomberg, 2011). Some of the processes that are commonly associated with watershed protection programs include the aspect of conducting inspections on the soil erosion and sedimentation control associated with the storm waters. This can be considered under the storm water management programs. Streams and lakes and the habitat restoration, education and public sensitization and watershed panning programs. In the plan for the New York PlanNYC, the main concepts are associated with ensuring quality of the drinking water is maintained, ensuring the infrastructure in place is able to continue delivering water to the city residents, modernizing the in-city distribution channels and improving the level of efficiency with reference to the water supply system (Bloomberg, 2011). Catskills Watershed Fig. 1 of 3 It is important to note that, the efforts that the state is putting on, are more of proactive than reactive. With the maintenance of the clean water for example, the state is going to avoid the construction of a billion dollar projects to filter out the chemicals and impurities in the water (Bloomberg, 2011). At the moment, New York is one of the state that still has much of the water clean and can be drunk from the source. Delaware Watershed Fig. 2 of 3 However it is important to note that the state is working on completing the Catskills/ Delaware ultraviolet Dis...