Massive repair job on leaky NYC aqueduct will take a few more years to finish

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A $2 billion project to fix a massive leak in a water tunnel that supplies about half of New York City’s water that was already paused recently due to drought conditions, won’t be completed for a few more years, city officials said Monday.

Department of Environmental Protection officials have been planning for years to temporarily shut down a section of the Delaware Aqueduct north of the city to address the leak of up to 35 million gallons per day, almost all of it beneath the Hudson River. The planned eight-month shutdown will allow workers to hook up a bypass tunnel that has been constructed under the river.

City officials announced the shutdown of the aqueduct last fall, timing the cutoff of water from the Catskill region for when seasonal demands are lower. But the work was paused in November due to a drought warning and low levels in the city’s other reservoirs.

The delay means the environmental agency will have to enter into a new contract for the construction work. Officials also remain concerned about below-average precipitation and plan to upgrade the aqueduct’s pumps. So they don’t expect the project to be completed until after 2027.

“A new contract must take every contingency into account to ensure we meet our critical responsibility of providing the highest quality water possible to nearly 10 million New Yorkers every day, without exception,” Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala said in a prepared release.

The aqueduct is the longest tunnel in the world and carries water for 85 miles (137 kilometers) from four reservoirs in the Catskill region to other reservoirs in the northern suburbs. It serves more than 8 million New York City residents. The sprawling system also serves some upstate municipalities.