Don't make Rocklanders pay for failed desalination plan: Letter

The New York State Public Service Commission is poised to rule on decisions critical to Rockland’s water issues. This case will decide whether Rockland ratepayers will pay Suez, our water provider, $54 million spent on a failed desalination proposal. It will also decide key policy issues that will determine the success of Rockland County’s ambitious water conservation plans.

We call on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to protect Rockland ratepayers, who already pay among the highest water rates in the country.

A 2015 PSC decision rejected desalination and set Rockland instead on the path for a forward thinking conservation-based approach. The right decisions now are essential to the success of that project.

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The county and all five Rockland towns oppose plans that would achieve only the bare minimum conservation and leak repairs. Independent experts have shown that conservation gains could be nearly doubled at minimal additional cost. If the current plans are approved, inadequate conservation plans now could mean that in another five years we will find ourselves battling another massively expensive supply-side project.

We call on the governor to reject the egregious desalination charges, the minimal conservation plan, the seriously flawed rate design and the extraordinary financial incentives and to direct Suez to incorporate the recommendations of independent experts into the strongest conservation plans we can craft together.

Please call Gov. Cuomo at 1-518-474-8390 and email the PSC at secretary@dps.ny.gov, referring to Rate Case 16-W-0130. You can find more information at www.sustainablerockland.org

Peggy Kurtz
Nyack
The writer is co-founder of the Rockland Water Coalition.