BETHEL – A Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWSP2) has been established by the NYS DEC and Department of Health in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture & Markets and Department of State to assist local communities in protecting their drinking water. The Town of Bethel approved participation in this program after introducing it to the Town Board at their meeting August 27. 

Free technical assistance addressing threats to all drinking water sources in the town, including private wells, and implementation of strategies to reduce those threats will be provided by the program, tailored to the town’s specific needs. 

NYS is in the process of updating its public water assessments. It is also focused on creating and implementing updated source water protection plans, an initiative which has led to the DWSP2. It has issued a draft framework to help NYS communities build these locally tailored, locally implemented, and periodically updated source water protection plans.

The benefits to a community are numerous and include the protection of and confidence in drinking water sources. The plan identifies source water areas and potential sources of contamination, defines priorities, identifies strategies, defines implementation tasks and milestones, and sets a timetable for achievement of its goals. It can contribute significantly to the conservation of natural resources and enhance the well-being of residents.

In the Town of Bethel, the most recently circulated Comprehensive Plan Survey elicited about 1,000 responses. Of those responses, the most recurring and relevant concerns were water quality and quantity; the strain on natural resources, especially on water, caused by development; and the capacity of the watershed. According to Supervisor Dan Sturm, even the 2006 Comprehensive Plan Survey indicated that drinking water and stream-water quality, stream corridors, wetlands, and river access were important aspects of protecting the town’s environment.

Because Bethel is engaged in proactively protecting its drinking water sources through its updating of the Smart Growth Comprehensive Plan, the DWSP2’s focus on water protection directly contributes to the environmental goals that the Comprehensive Plan aims to achieve. Bethel’s multi-faceted approach to planning for rural water and wastewater systems aligns with the NY Rural Association as well. 

With the approval of the program, the Town Supervisor or other officials are authorized to seek and secure funding for its implementation.

Councilwoman Wendy Brown commented on the program. “I think it fits in with our goals for the community. It makes sense, and it’s not going to cost us anything.”

Algae on Mountain Lake

Related to this program, which has as its goal the protection of Bethel’s water supply, concerns about the condition of Mountain Lake in Smallwood were voiced by several Smallwood residents during the August 27 meeting.

Biologist Bruce Johnson, who is a part-time Smallwood resident, and who earned a PhD at Duke University with training in Lake Science, observed excessive algae and cyanobacteria on Mountain Lake. He studied with a leading scientist whose research in phosphorous as a main contributing factor in algae growth on lakes supports his knowledge of the subject and leads him to claim that excessive phosphorous in Mountain Lake, which is creating algae and eutrophic conditions, is being caused by effluent from the Town’s sewage treatment plant. His data indicates 60mcg/liter of phosphorous, whereas 20mcg/liter is the allowable limit.

Johnson also made the Town aware of the availability of $25M in NYS grants to upgrade municipal sewage treatment plants and said, “I have information that can help in getting one of these grants.”

Supervisor Sturm replied that the Town has invested over $11M over a span of several years in the treatment plant and his reports (except for a few remedied deviations) on the levels of phosphorous are within allowable limits. “I take exception to the idea that our plant is hurting Mountain Lake,” Sturm said.

Smallwood resident Clay Ruede clarified that since Mountain Lake is a “bathing lake” the standard of quality is different than for a “boating lake”. “I think if the Town can regulate the septic systems in some way, we can all benefit,” he said.

Former Smallwood Civic Association (SWCA) President Jonathan Hyman said that the SWCA hired a professional lake management firm to do its own independent tests and the resulting data “unequivocally indicated” fault with the town’s sewage treatment plant.

Because discrepancies in data exist between the town’s data and those of Smallwood residents, Johnson extended his expertise to the town to provide the necessary information for grant applications to obtain the funds necessary to upgrade the town’s sewage treatment plant, which is perceived by some to be causing the problem.