February 02, 2005
KJ wants another well to lessen water supply problem
By Chris McKenna
Times Herald-Record
[email protected]
Kiryas Joel – A new well outside the village's borders would boost its water supply by 10 percent as it battles in court for a project that would end its dependence on groundwater.
Kiryas Joel is seeking permission from the state Department of Conservation to operate a sixth municipal well off Larkin Drive in Monroe that could pump 125 gallons per minute for up to 18 hours a day – a total 135,000 gallons per day.
The new well would ease water shortages for the booming community, which trucks in water to supplement its 14 wells whenever demand soars above normal levels – such as before Passover, when homes and streets are scrubbed.
It also would bolster the village's required backup supply if it's allowed to tap New York City's water supply with a 13-mile pipe to the Catskill Aqueduct – the project it regards as a permanent water solution.
Orange County officials have filed a lawsuit challenging the environmental review for the pipeline, charging that it brushed aside such issues as how the additional sewage generated by Kiryas Joel's increased water supply would be treated.
Kiryas Joel recently submitted its response but continues planning its pipeline and digging wells as a short-term solution.
Its latest plans were announced Monday with a published legal notice inviting readers to send written comments to the DEC by Feb. 18.
According to the notice, the well would increase the daily yield of Kiryas Joel's well-field off Larkin Drive to 443,000 gallons, about a third of the village's supply.
A 1998 report by the village's hydrogeologist determined that the property could safely yield 300,000 to 600,000 gallons per day, according to the DEC.
On its own, the new well could provide water for almost 340 homes, or roughly the number built in the village over two years at recent rates, Kiryas Joel Administrator Gedalye Szegedin estimated yesterday.
John Karl III, the Village of Harriman public works superintendent, complained when Kiryas Joel connected its first four Larkin Drive wells in April 2002. He said that they were being overused and could deplete a nearby Harriman well.
He said this week that he still has those concerns and will put them in writing to the DEC.
Kiryas Joel's constant quest for additional water sparked controversy in 1998 and 1999, when residents living outside the village in Monroe and Woodbury complained about their own wells running dry.
Szegedin said pump tests for the proposed new well off Larkin Drive showed no interference with neighboring municipal or private wells.
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