ARKVILLE - For decades, the mountains and valleys of the Catskills have provided clean drinking water to millions of New Yorkers. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the agency most often associated with that supply. But in Arkville, a far less familiar institution plays a central role in sustaining both the land and the communities that live on it: the Catskill Watershed Corporation.
Formed in 1997 under the landmark Watershed Memorandum of Agreement, the CWC is a nonprofit local development corporation created by the region’s towns. Its purpose is to strike a balance — supporting economic life in the watershed while safeguarding water quality for New York City.
The governance of the corporation underscores its roots. Of its 15 board members, 12 are elected officials from watershed towns. The governor appoints two others, including an environmental advocate, and the mayor of New York City appoints one. That design, local leaders say, ensures that the voices of watershed residents are heard in decisions affecting their land and livelihoods.
Voluntary Programs, Tangible Results
Unlike the DEP, the CWC does not regulate. Its programs are voluntary, and its primary tool is funding — millions of dollars annually in grants and low-interest loans to residents, businesses, and municipalities.
One of the best-known examples is its Septic Repair and Replacement Program, which has assisted more than 7,000 property owners since its inception. The program provides grants to replace failing septic systems — essential for protecting water quality but often prohibitively expensive for homeowners. CWC stresses that it neither designs nor approves septic systems; it simply helps pay for them.
Stormwater management is another focus. While DEP enforces regulations on construction and land clearing, CWC offers three funding programs to help property owners meet those requirements. Grants have supported stormwater prevention plans for homes, businesses, and municipal projects across the watershed.
CWC has also helped build or fund 14 community wastewater systems, from small septic districts to full-scale treatment plants. The largest to date, a facility planned for the hamlet of Shokan in Ulster County, will serve about 500 properties once completed.
Boosting Local Economies
Economic development is woven into CWC’s mission. Through its Catskill Fund for the Future, the corporation has issued more than $100 million in low-interest loans to more than 400 businesses, spanning restaurants, distilleries, lodging, manufacturing, and nonprofits. Drive through the watershed’s five counties, staff note, and you are likely to pass a business that got its start with CWC financing.
Other programs extend from flood hazard mitigation — funding projects like culvert upgrades or fuel tank anchoring — to septic maintenance, public education, and, soon, workforce training. The last is designed to address shrinking populations and labor shortages in the region by equipping residents with skills to stay and work in their communities.
A Community-First Model
CWC leaders describe the organization as a product of compromise: local communities agreeing to support water protection, but on their own terms and with resources to thrive. Its programs, they argue, provide dual benefits — healthier streams and soils for New York City’s reservoirs, and stronger, more sustainable economies for the people living upstream.
Nearly three decades after its founding, the corporation has grown into a fixture in the region - part steward, part economic lifeline - and a reminder that clean water in New York City is inseparable from the well-being of small towns in the Catskills.
