Massive repair job on leaky NYC aqueduct will take a few more years to finish

A billion project to fix a massive leak in a water tunnel that supplies about half of New York City s water that was already paused in the past few days due to drought conditions won t be completed for a scarce more years city officers commented Monday Department of Environmental Protection representatives have been planning for years to temporarily shut down a section of the Delaware Aqueduct north of the city to address the leak of up to million gallons per day almost all of it beneath the Hudson River The planned eight-month shutdown will allow workers to hook up a find a way around tunnel that has been constructed under the river City agents declared the shutdown of the aqueduct last fall timing the cutoff of water from the Catskill region for when seasonal demands are lower But the work was paused in November due to a drought warning and low levels in the city s other reservoirs The delay means the environmental agency will have to enter into a new contract for the construction work Agents also remain concerned about below-average precipitation and plan to upgrade the aqueduct s pumps So they don t expect the project to be completed until after A new contract must take every contingency into account to ensure we meet our critical responsibility of providing the highest quality water workable to nearly million New Yorkers every day without exception Commissioner Rohit T Aggarwala reported in a prepared release The aqueduct is the longest tunnel in the world and carries water for miles kilometers from four reservoirs in the Catskill region to other reservoirs in the northern suburbs It serves more than million New York City residents The sprawling system also serves chosen upstate municipalities Source