New York State Announced New Rules for our Waters!

Today, thanks in part to the advocacy of our community, New York State announced it will adopt a “WW” (wet weather) designation across NYS waters! 

Okay so what’s all this mean??  Up and down the Hudson and all across NYS, the waters of New York are classified for particular uses (ie fishing, boating, swimming, etc). Many of the waters are not currently classified for swimming simply because they do not meet criteria for swimming when it rains. 

As you’ve heard us say before, while not the only factor, poor water quality generally correlates to heavy rains when untreated wastewater is released into our rivers. This is because NYC, like many other urban environments, is built on a CSO system. With today’s rulemaking, the State will add a wet weather (WW) limited use designation for waters impacted by CSO discharges and/or municipal separate stormwater sewer systems (MS4) effluents. The State’s intention with the WW limited use designation is to upgrade waters to primary contact recreation (“PCR”) best use (ie. swimming!!), even if that best use can only be attained partially, during periods of dry weather. 

The map above is one of the first resources we looked at when designing our concept. It’s a map of current water classifications that hasn’t been revisited since 1985. (That’s 38 years ago!) Since then, the city has upgraded lots of wastewater infrastructure and invested in green infrastructure that has greatly improved the health of our waterways. This map will be adding a few “WW”s and will look very different in the next few years which is something we should all be excited about!

The rulemaking does a few other things:

1. Amends water quality standards (WQS) to protect the shellfishing best use in Class SA waters;
2. Protects the primary contact recreation best use in Class SA and SB waters;
3. Maintains water quality suitable for primary contact recreation in Class SC waters; and
4. Protects the secondary contact recreation best use in Class I waters.

Why does this matter?

This is the first in a series of two rule makings.  The second rulemaking will examine classifications and propose potential upgrades, which means some of the waters currently classified for fishing and boating could potentially be reclassified for swimming with a WW designation!  Waters identified during the public review process with potential swimming use are now being investigated by the State and are subject to possible classification upgrades in the next rule making.  + POOL submitted its water quality data to the State to consider areas of the NY harbor where this designation may be possible.

There are a couple things working together to make river access for all New Yorkers complex. Water classification is just one piece. Pollution reduction is another. Bathing regulation is a third. But we’re chipping away and this is a big win for public access! In the next few years, NYC’s waterfront will look a lot different, when more people are allowed to swim in the rivers!