NYC To Benefit From $1.2 Billion Tunnel Plan

New York City officials unveiled a plan for a giant new water tunnel project this month intended to boost system resiliency.

“A $1.2 billion drinking-water project announced last week will include construction of a 2-mile tunnel,” The Journal News reported.

The tunnel will run from Kensico Reservoir to the Catskill-Delaware Ultraviolet Light Disinfection Facility in Eastview. The project is expected to begin in five years and be completed by 2035.

“The new aqueduct will provide an additional conveyance between these vital components of the water supply, giving DEP the ability to take other facilities out of service for periodic maintenance and inspection,” the report said.

“The finished tunnel will carry as much as 2.6 billion gallons of water a day in a 27-foot diameter tunnel between 400 and 500 feet underground,” the report said, citing the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.

Officials framed the project as a way to a support resiliency in New York’s water system.

“By providing an additional connection between Kensico Reservoir and our treatment facilities to the south, this new tunnel will further guarantee the reliable delivery of water to New York City and population centers in Westchester County, including New Rochelle, White Plains and Yonkers,” DEP Commissioner Vincent Sapienza said in a statement.

Officials also billed the project as sure to create economic opportunity in the area.

“Hundreds of jobs are being created as officials announce a billion dollar tunneling project in Westchester that will benefit more than nine million people,” White Plains Daily Voice reported.

The city water system is currently in the midst of substantial infrastructure work.

One of the centerpieces of New York City's water system is the Delaware Aqueduct, an 85-mile structure completed in 1944. It supplies about half of the drinking water in the city, but it is leaking up to 35 million gallons per day since the 1990s, according to Environmental Leader. The city is working up to fix the tunnel.

“It’s really the largest and most complex water tunnel repair that the city of New York has ever done,” Sapienza told the Associated Press.