A bill giving the state power to regulate massive water withdrawals from most New York streams and rivers is set to come up for an Assembly vote today, and the Senate’s Environmental Conservation chair said he expects his house to act soon.
Assemblyman Robert Sweeney, D-Babylon, said he expects the legislation – which would require the state Department of Environmental Conservation to create a permit program for withdrawals over 100,000 gallons – to pass easily.
The bill, which was proposed by the DEC, has been the subject of debate in the environmental community, with most groups supporting it, but some worrying that it would encroach on landowner’s rights. The state currently operates on a “riparian rights” system, which allows the owner of land adjacent to lakes and rivers to have fair use of that waterfront.
While the legislation isn’t industry specific, natural gas companies are hoping to tap into the state’s portion of the Marcellus Shale, and will need millions of gallons of water for high-volume hydraulic fracturing, a controversial technique used to break tight rock formations and release gas. That type of hydrofracking is on hold in New York as the DEC constructs its permitting guidelines.
