Views from the Watershed

Dec 18 2024 17 ep. 11 mins 5
Views from the Watershed Podcast artwork

This podcast tour explores the past, present, and future of NYC’s water supply in the Catskills. It tells the story of the complicated relationship between the Catskills and NYC that is forged by water infrastructure. You'll visit 13 resonant places in the watershed and hear firsthand, intimate perspectives from local people including a historian, a dairy farmer, a former DEP commissioner, a grave restorer, and a forester on what it means to be a part of the water system. Visit walkingthewatershed.com/podcasttour/ for more info and a tour map.

  Society & Culture
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Start Here

Dec 18 2024 2 mins  
Start here for important information about how to use this podcast tour; a land acknowledgement; and a couple of interesting things to notice along the way. If you're taking this tour in person, please visit ⁠walkingthewatershed.com/podcasttour/listen.html⁠ to download a printed map, transcripts, accessibility info, and other important information.

Introduction: Connected By Water

Dec 18 2024 6 mins  
Most New York City residents don't know where their water comes from (except from out of the tap!) Your tour guide, Lize Mogel, gives a little bit of the backstory to NYC's drinking water, 90% of which comes from the Catskills, 100+ miles from the City. New York City and the Catskills are physically and socially connected by water, but their relationship has a complicated history..

A Difficult History

Dec 18 2024 12 mins  
As New York City grew, so did its need for clean water. So city leaders decided to tap the Esopus Creek in the Catskills. The construction of the Catskills System— the Ashokan and Schoharie reservoirs and the Catskill Aqueduct— displaced thousands of people through eminent domain, uprooting tight-knit rural communities and causing generational bitterness towards the City. This

A Miracle of Modern Engineering

Dec 18 2024 7 mins  
The NYC water supply is enormous! It serves 9.5 million people every day, and has a capacity of 570 billion gallons. That's the equivalent of 2,059 Empire State Buildings full of water! NYC's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) owns, operates, and manages the water supply, with a little help from their friend, gravity. This episode features Adam Bosch, the former DEP Direc

A Seat at the Table

Dec 18 2024 26 mins  
A DEP Commissioner, a Catskillian, and a bunch of lawyers walk into a bar... The 1990s were a turning point for the relationship between the Catskills and NYC. The Clean Water Act changed the way the City needed to manage its water supply, so they tried to impose stringent regulations on the watershed. Catskillians were having none of that! As watershed towns got together and orga

Trout and Tourism

Dec 18 2024 9 mins  
The Catskills are considered to be the birthplace of fly fishing in the US. Here, fishing can be an occupation, a lifeline, or a hobby. Anglers (and fish too!) are important stakeholders in the watershed—NYC's control over the water in Esopus Creek and other rivers, and the fishing community's needs for clear, cold water are deeply intertwined. This episode features angler and fi

Tough Choices

Dec 18 2024 8 mins  
There’s a lot of water in the Catskills! Flooding is a constant threat, made worse by climate change, and most of the businesses in downtown Boiceville will eventually have to move because of it. A vacant lot is a marker of the profoundly tough choices the town has to make in planning for future flooding. This episode features Aaron Bennett, Flood Hazard Mitigation Coordinator wi

Un-Muddying the Waters

Dec 18 2024 10 mins  
Sediment, turbidity, and riparian buffers, oh my! There's a lot that can happen in a stream on its way to becoming NYC's drinking water. Watershed managers have re-engineered part of Stony Clove Creek so that it's cleaner and clearer...and doesn't flood downtown Phoenicia anymore. This episode features Tim Koch, Stream Educator and Hydrologist with the Ashokan Watershed Stream Mana

Hard Work

Dec 18 2024 16 mins  
The workers who built the NYC water system over 60 years are an invisible part of this massive infrastructure project. It's a personal story, as much as it is a public works story. This episode features historian Diane Galusha, and Dan Underwood, who worked in the Delaware system tunnels. If you're taking this tour in person, please play this episode while on the Ashokan Quarry Tr

Upgrading Infrastructure

Dec 18 2024 5 mins  
NYC’s water infrastructure is kind of like your household plumbing, but a lot bigger. What happens though, when, like your household plumbing, it springs a leak or needs to be replaced? This episode features Adam Bosch, former DEP Director of Public Affairs for the NYC water supply. (Episode recorded in 2021) If you're taking this tour in person, please play this episode at the S