Immediate Release

Tuesday, October 16, 2007 
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798-5800

Picente: Water Emergency Ends;

County Will Monitor Hinckley Water Level

 

Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente, Jr. today announced that Oneida County is ending the imposition of its water emergency measures.

“The recent rainfall and the collaboration among agencies that has taken place these past weeks has allowed the Hinckley Reservoir to return to a more normal water level for this time of year,” Picente said. “The Oneida County Health Department will continue to pay very close attention to the rainfall as it continues to monitor water levels at Hinckley . If the water level falls too low, the County will reconvene our state and local partners to discuss steps that could include a re-imposition of emergency measures.”

Picente said that County Government will continue to work in cooperation with the New York State Department of Health, the State Emergency Management Office, the State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York State Canal Corp. and the Mohawk Valley Water Authority. Picente said that, based on discussions among all agencies, it was agreed that the flow of water out of Hinckley will be increased for the next few days  to improve the conditions for fisheries and to allow for an orderly close of the canal season.

            “Although we will not have formal water conservation measures in effect, I would still urge local residents to be cautious in their use of water,” Picente said. “One of the lessons of the past few weeks is that we all need to consider our own personal conservation efforts as one way to avoid wasting our precious water resources.”

            Picente repeated his plea for state agencies to immediately begin discussing long-range actions needed to ensure that the region maintains an adequate water supply.  “There have been a number of issues that have emerged over recent years among various public and private sector parties regarding water usage. The past few weeks have demonstrated to everyone the need for greater communication and collaboration among those parties so that we can effectively manage our water resources now and for the future.”

“The time to look into what happened at the Hinckley Reservoir is now, not in February” Picente stated.