The suburban reservoirs that supply 10% of New York City’s vaunted drinking water are getting saltier due to decades of road salt being spread near the system \u2014 and they will eventually have to be abandoned if nothing is done to reverse the trend, city officials warn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The plug wouldn’t have to be pulled until early next century, according to a new study. But the soaring saltiness could eventually affect the famous taste of the Big Apple\u2019s water, which is sometimes called the champagne of tap water, and poses a challenge to managers of a system that serves more than 9 million people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe conclusion of this study is that if we don\u2019t change our ways, in 2100 the Croton Water System becomes a nice recreational facility, but it ceases to be a water supply,\u201d Rohit Aggarwala, the city\u2019s environmental protection commissioner, said in an interview with The Associated Press. \u201cAnd that will directly impact everybody who drinks New York City water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Croton system dates back to 1842<\/a> \u2014 when the first Croton Aqueduct began delivering water to a reservoir in what is now Manhattan\u2019s Central Park \u2014 and is now comprised of 12 reservoirs and three controlled lakes north of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The report found the concentration of chlorides \u2014 an indicator of salinization \u2014 tripled from 1987 to 2019 in the system’s main reservoir, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the city line. Concentrations are on track to exceed the state\u2019s maximum contaminant level for chloride by 2108.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The report found salinity increases across the sprawling system of city reservoirs in upstate New York. However, the problem is far less of an issue in the Delaware and Catskill watersheds west of the Hudson River, which supply about 90% of the city\u2019s water. That\u2019s likely because there\u2019s far less development in those watersheds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Road salt is considered a main driver of the increase, along with sewage treatment plant discharges and water softeners. Millions of tons of rock salt is spread on U.S. roads each winter as a cheap and effective way to reduce accidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s really a problem across the country in areas with a lot of snow,\u201d said Shannon Roback, science director for the environmental group Riverkeeper. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen rising levels of salt in water in the Northeast, in the Midwest and in most places that use road salt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roback noted that high salt levels in drinking water pose a host of environmental concerns and can be harmful to people on low-sodium diets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aggarwala said the city has a few options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n