On August 8, Riverkeeper joined Queens City Councilman Gennaro at a press conference urging Governor Paterson to designate the NYC Watershed permanently “off-limits” for natural gas drilling. According to the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, the entire West-of-Hudson portion of the NYC Watershed sits atop the Marcellus Shale, a geologic formation containing natural gas. To extract the natural gas, oil companies would inject toxic chemicals, sand, and up to one million gallons of water into shale formations, potentially posing a risk of contaminating local groundwater, and NYC’s drinking water reservoirs.

On August 6, the New York State Assembly convened a public hearing to hear testimony on water quality and a proposal by United Water New York (UWNY) to construct a desalination facility in Rockland County. Riverkeeper attorney Rebecca Troutman testified at the request of Assemblyman Sweeney. UWNY’s desalination plant would use Hudson River water to meet Rockland’s water needs beyond 2015. Given the enormous environmental and economic costs of desalination plants, Riverkeeper is not yet aware of compelling evidence for the construction of this plant.

On July 29, Food & Water Watch and Riverkeeper launched their Take Back the Tap – New York campaign to urge NYC restaurants to stop serving bottled water.