***************************************************
NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Gary Paulachok, Deputy Delaware River Master, (570) 296-7213

DECREE PARTIES ANNOUNCE TEMPORARY SUPPLEMENTAL RELEASES PROGRAM FROM NEW
YORK CITY-DELAWARE BASIN RESERVOIRS

MILFORD, Pa. (Sept. 2) – New York State, Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
Delaware, and the City of New York (Parties to the 1954 U.S. Supreme
Court Decree) today announced an agreement providing temporary
additional releases of water from three New York City reservoirs to the
Delaware River in anticipation of a future shutdown of the Rondout to
West Branch Tunnel.

Under the terms of the September 2, 2009 agreement now in effect, total
supplemental water available to be released from the Cannonsville,
Pepacton, and Neversink reservoirs could be as high as 50 billion
gallons over the course of this program that is scheduled to expire on
May 31, 2010. These temporary releases will be in addition to water that
will be released under the Decree Parties’ September 2007 Flexible Flow
Management Program (FFMP) agreement that was amended in December 2008.

The supplemental releases will be based on National Weather Service
(NWS) long-term probabilistic reservoir inflow forecasts, New York City
Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) historical inflow data,
and the water supply condition of each reservoir. Acting in cooperation
with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, NYCDEP
will determine which shutdown supplemental release quantity to use for
the three reservoirs. The release amounts are expected to be reevaluated
on a weekly basis in conjunction with the issuance of updated NWS
probabilistic forecasts and be adjusted accordingly. These additional
quantities, when combined with FFMP releases, could result in amounts
totaling as much as 495 cubic feet per second (cfs) from Cannonsville,
260 cfs from Pepacton, and 145 cfs from Neversink. The Office of the
Delaware River Master’s web site (http://water.usgs.gov/osw/odrm/) will
provide the public with the updated weekly supplemental release
information while this agreement is in effect.

The 45-mile-long tunnel transports water from the city’s Rondout
Reservoir to its West Branch Reservoir in the Croton Watershed. This
tunnel is in need of repairs in order to improve the reliability and
long-term sustainability of the city’s drinking water supply system. In
order to perform critical, necessary work in preparation of the repairs,
the tunnel will need to be shut down. The temporary supplemental
releases program is being implemented since water cannot be diverted
from the Cannonsville, Pepacton, and Neversink reservoirs in the
Delaware River Basin to Rondout Reservoir during this shutdown period.
The estimated amount of water that would normally be diverted to Rondout
during the length of time that the tunnel is expected to be shutdown is
less than the 50 billion gallons that could be released to the Delaware
River under the terms of this temporary program.

The temporary supplemental releases program is being implemented in
accordance with a provision contained in the Decree Parties’ FFMP
agreement. A final decision has not yet been made by NYCDEP on when the
tunnel shutdown will take place. In the event the tunnel shutdown does
not occur, the temporary releases program could be terminated by NYCDEP.

This and other Decree Party agreements, including the FFMP, may be
viewed on the Delaware River Master’s web site at
http://water.usgs.gov/osw/odrm/.

# # #
2009