Liz Thomas Writes about WD5

(Liz Thomas is a Ulysses Town Council-person)

Pros and Cons of Public Water in Ulysses


Recently the New York State Department of Health notified the Town of Ulysses of the potential for the proposed Water District 5 to move ahead with 0% interest loan funding despite the removal of Auble’s Mobile Home Park from the plan. However, in order for this to happen, the town needs to find an equivalent number of new water users to meet the annual target cost per user of $613. Going above this number would disqualify the project for 0% interest funding. To meet this goal, Eric Pond from the engineering firm of Barton and Loguidice, proposed a reconfiguration of the system (see map below). The only alternative provided that fits the $613 target cost encompasses large areas of land zoned for the lowest residential density and also includes Route 89 from Taughannock Park to Glenwood Road resulting in a full 25 miles of pipelines and escalating the project cost to somewhere near $10 million, up from the original $4.6 million. These costs would be paid for by those within the water district whether they hook up to the water system or not.

The Village of Trumansburg is under a restriction from the Tompkins County Department of Health preventing extension of their water mains until they have a back-up source of water, in spite of the enormous water capacity of their well and their redundant pumping system. Due to this restriction, local residents and municipal officials are working to develop a back-up source to the Village.

Based on speaking with residents and municipal officials, there is also support for Taughannock Park’s desire to connect to the municipal water. Where controversy arises is in the placement of pipelines through areas of the town that are not zoned for high residential densities; in fact much of the northwestern area of the town where the pipes will be installed is zoned for the lowest possible densities. Zoning is intended to encourage growth in certain areas and discourage growth in others. While the newly proposed (on 2/21/08) Water District 5 design runs through land currently being used for agriculture, it skips land near Ithaca with the highest density zoning. Why? Based on Tompkins County Department of Health information, since 1985, seven wells have a documented problem within the area of proposed Water District 5. However, wells outside the proposed water district also have documented troubles. An accurate town-wide survey of well water quality and quantity has never been completed, but a water committee is now formed to do just that. Once completed, a water plan can be designed to meet the actual needs of the most residents.

On February 20, 2008, a report from Environmental Advocates of New York was released highlighting the negative impacts of sprawl on rural communities resulting from misuse of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF is the funding source for Water District 5) managed by the Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) and the New York State Department of Health. The article is available on line at http://www.eany.org/reports/Wasted%20Green_02202008.pdf (beginning at the bottom of page 9) and states in part, “the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, created with the best of intentions, may be working at cross-purposes to efforts to fight sprawl.” The article goes on to say, “The Department of Health reviews proposals to ensure they are technically sound. However, there is no evidence of a mechanism in place to ensure that the project is the most appropriate remedy to a public health or environmental problem. And the EFC simply looks at the applicant’s finances to determine if the municipality has the fiscal capacity to repay the loan.”

The scoring used by EFC gives 40 “points” to projects that address well contamination, whether there is one contaminated well or 100. To date the Tompkins County Department of Health has provided data on well contamination in only 7 wells in the project area over 22 years to determine the severity of the need. While water contamination is a serious issue, many homeowners already manage many water problems through home treatment and filtering systems. These methods may be inconvenient for homeowners, but in most cases are less expensive in the long run than a municipal water system in an area of low residential density.

Finally, the Town of Ulysses is in the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan. Based on the recent Comprehensive Plan survey, over 90% of residents of Ulysses rate the following three qualities as important or extremely important: open space, rural character, and Taughannock Park. Historically, where water flows, so does development. Should we proceed with a water district that encourages growth in rural and open space? Should we rush to pass this project before the Comprehensive Plan is being updated? Do we want to encourage development along the highly erodable steep slopes along Route 89? Infrastructure, such as water lines, should be preceded by thoughful planning, and be built according to those plans. Working together, let’s identify the water needs more clearly, and build a system that addresses the real needs while preserving the rural character of Ulysses that we all hold so dear. The deadline for making a decision on this plan is NOW, so if you have an opinion, please let it be heard.