Good news for water quality and CSO education: NYCDEP has just begun a pilot program to help inform people when sewers are overflowing and the importance of limiting water use during rain events. The best part is that the pilot is running in the Newtown Creek watershed! If you are a resident living in the pilot area of East Williamsburg, near Cooper park, please check out the program and sign up for alerts. Get your neighbors to sign up as well!
If you live in the pilot area, DEP will send you a text message alert when there’s a heavy storm and another one when it’s all clear. You can opt out at any time.
NCA has provided much feedback on this pilot to date, based on our experience with our Weather in the Watershed project we began a few years ago. It is very encouraging to see NYC invest in education about CSOs and promote alternative strategies to help fix the problem. It is a long road ahead towards drastic reduction of sewage discharging into our waters, but this is a strong step in the right direction.
Join the Wait… Pilot Program by registering here online.
If you live outside the pilot area, but are interested in participating in the future, either register online or email DEP at wait@dep.nyc.gov to be added to DEP’s Wait… list. For full information, visit nyc.gov/dep/wait