ONLINE — The Time and the Valleys Museum will host Heidi Haynes, deputy director of outreach for the New York City Environmental Protection Bureau of Water Supply on Sunday, March 3 at 2 p.m. for an online discussion of the Delaware Aqueduct repair project.

The project calls for shutting down a portion of the Delaware Aqueduct to attach a bypass tunnel under the Hudson River. It’s a complex repair of decades-old leaks. 

Since 1944, the 85-mile-long aqueduct has delivered about half of New York City’s water supply—typically about 600 million gallons a day—using only gravity to carry the water from four Catskill Mountain region reservoirs. 

To help offset the shutdown, the Catskill Aqueduct, which provides water to the city from two reservoirs in the eastern Catskills, will be more heavily relied upon during the Delaware Aqueduct shutdowns.

In 2010, New York City announced a $1 billion plan to repair the aqueduct by connecting a 2.5-mile-long bypass tunnel around known leaks discovered in the 1990s—one in the town of Newburgh, the other in the Town of Wawarsing. The new bypass, which will be connected 700 feet beneath the Hudson River, is the first tunnel built under the Hudson River since 1957.

Since 1992, DEP has continuously tested and monitored the leaks, which can release upwards of 35 million gallons per day. Nearly all of the water escaping the leaks happens near the Hudson River in Newburgh.

DEP has been working closely with Hudson Valley municipalities that rely on the Delaware Aqueduct for their water supplies to activate backup plans during the temporary shutdown. It has also been working with the U.S. Geological Survey to continually monitor groundwater levels in communities where the Delaware Aqueduct leaks are located.

Admission to the online-only program is free for museum members; the cost is $5 for non-members. 

To receive a link for the program, register by email at info@timeandthevalleysmuseum.org and put NYC DEP Talk in the subject line, or call 845/985-7700. Non-members will be asked to first make a donation at www.timeandthevalleysmuseum.org/support/donate.