Sometimes Upstate & NYC Work Together
New Yorkers are always talking about the upstate/downstate divide and how the interests of each group of residents diverge. Many politicians make a good living out of exploiting this divide (on both sides of the borders). The most recent example of this problem is the NYRI plan to transport "excess" electricity from upstate to downstaters by building a monstrous high-power trail of towers.
Well, every once in a while the interests of both upstaters and downstaters intersect and the powers that be actually do the right thing. NYC has developed a plan to subsidize upstate farmers, in order to protect the city's sources of drinking water.
The Watershed Agricultural Council is a city/state organization that works to protect the watershed in the Catskills, the city's largest source of water. The commercial development that has taken a large portion of the farmland in the Croton area (the city's secondary water source) has forced the city to invest over $1 BILLION to build a new water filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. 10 acres of parkland has been lost to the new plant.
A similar filtration plant for Catskill water would likely cost upwards of $4 BILLION. The Watershed Agricultural Council instead works to preserve the commercial viability of area farms by helping local products reach NYC stores and restaurants. In addition, the organization helps to fund the capital improvements that farms need to be more ecologically sustainable and reduce runoff into the watershed. These two strategies will hopefully keep more farms in business and discourage the commercial development of more farmland in the watershed area.
Well, every once in a while the interests of both upstaters and downstaters intersect and the powers that be actually do the right thing. NYC has developed a plan to subsidize upstate farmers, in order to protect the city's sources of drinking water.
The Watershed Agricultural Council is a city/state organization that works to protect the watershed in the Catskills, the city's largest source of water. The commercial development that has taken a large portion of the farmland in the Croton area (the city's secondary water source) has forced the city to invest over $1 BILLION to build a new water filtration plant in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. 10 acres of parkland has been lost to the new plant.
A similar filtration plant for Catskill water would likely cost upwards of $4 BILLION. The Watershed Agricultural Council instead works to preserve the commercial viability of area farms by helping local products reach NYC stores and restaurants. In addition, the organization helps to fund the capital improvements that farms need to be more ecologically sustainable and reduce runoff into the watershed. These two strategies will hopefully keep more farms in business and discourage the commercial development of more farmland in the watershed area.
