Mitigating Drought

 Mitigation Tools for States

 Case Study: New York

As a result of the 1985–86 drought, major mitigation activities were carried out in water conservation. The state developed a “worst case” drought scenario, looking ahead to potential drought conditions in late 1985 and 1986. They created a simplistic predictive model for New York City composite reservoir storage for the scenario, then made worst-case assumptions for the principal factors influencing reservoir storage (runoff, consumption, releases, conservation measures, other sources of supply).

Other actions of state government during the 1985–86 drought:

Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)

• Distributed water conservation materials and stressed the need for conservation at drought information meetings and to media contacts
• Developed a drought index for the 8 drought regions in the state (the Palmer Drought Severity Index [PDSI] was also used)
• Provided the state’s Drought Management Task Force with reports on drought status, and also sent periodic drought updates to 800 groups in southeastern New York
• Inventoried self-supplied industrial water users in the drought area for possible use of their supplies for emergency public water supply needs
• In conjunction with the Department of Health, New York City, and Westchester County, established a task force to develop a phased emergency disaster plan for New York City

State Health Commissioner

• Requested that water suppliers in the state’s 13-county drought-affected area prepare or update drought contingency plans

State Drought Coordinating Officer

• Requested that water suppliers in the drought area adopt water conservation measures and use water sources other than the New York City system where possible

Drought Management Task Force (DMTF)

• Supported a National Weather Service aerial survey program in the New York City watershed area during winter 1985–86 to estimate the water equivalent of snow cover for improved runoff forecasting

State Emergency Management Office (SEMO)

• Worked on rehabilitating and expanding the state’s emergency equipment stockpile
• Established an alert procedure to notify New York City of hazardous material releases into the Hudson River that might affect water quality at the Chelsea pumping station
• Met with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to seek federal drought emergency assistance

State Office of Fire Prevention and Control

• Prepared and distributed Fire Service Guides

New York City also initiated or continued several long-term activities in response to the 1985–86 drought:

• Public conservation efforts under the leadership of the Mayor’s Committee on Water (comprising public, business, commercial, and governmental entities)
• Mayor’s Intergovernmental Task Force on New York City Water Supply Needs exploring issues of controlling demand and increasing supply
• Study of future demands on New York City’s water supply system
• Universal Metering Program, a 10-year program to install 630,000 water meters in New York City
• Water Main Replacement Program, an ongoing program to replace about 300,000 feet of water mains annually to prevent leakage
• Leak Detection Program, a continuing electronic detection program
• Public outreach program of the Office of Water Conservation, involving media, schools, and a speakers’ bureau
• Fire Hydrant Security Program, involving installation and maintenance of locking devices on hydrants
• Low-Flow Plumbing Fixture Pilot Program, involving installation of low-flow devices in a sample building and monitoring of demand in this building and several control buildings
• DEC holding hearings to allow emergency pumping from the Hudson River
• Legislative proposals to allow the city to enforce state plumbing regulations

In response to the 1988–89 drought, New York City took the following actions:

• Issued a Drought Watch on January 17, 1989
• Announced a Drought Emergency—Stage II, March 22, 1989; including the following water conservation regulations:
  
– Lawn watering banned
– Businesses required to cut water use by 20%
– Filling swimming pools banned
– Hosing down sidewalks and driveways banned
– Car washes required to use well water or close
– Opening fire hydrants by anyone other than authorized personnel banned
– Fountains not allowed to be turned on
• Drought Emergency—Stage III declared May 1, 1989; Chelsea Pumping Station activated to draw water from the Hudson River. The pumping station ran for 15 days before being shut down because of legal battles and recent rains

(Summarized from Wilhite, D.A. 1993. Drought Mitigation Technologies in the United States: With Future Policy Recommendations. Final Report of a Cooperative Agreement between the Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the International Drought Information Center, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. IDIC Technical Report Series 93–1, International Drought Information Center, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska.)

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