Tomorrow, April 22, marks Earth Day—a time to recognize and act on environmental protections and honor our natural landscape. 

Here in Sullivan County, our rivers, streams and forests make up a delicate ecosystem, one that relies on clean air and clean water. 

Did you know? The reservoir system provides more than 1.1 billion gallons of water to New York City each day. 

The watersheds of the three systems cover an area of almost 2,000 square miles, approximately the size of the state of Delaware. The reservoirs combined have a storage capacity of 550 billion gallons. The water flows to New York City through aqueducts, and 97 percent reaches homes and businesses through gravity alone.

The Delaware system, in parts of Delaware, Ulster, and Sullivan Counties southwest of the Catskill watershed, includes four reservoirs which provide 50 percent of the City’s daily water needs. The largest is the Pepacton, which can hold over 140 billion gallons of water—more than the entire capacity of the Croton system.

The Delaware system has four reservoirs—Cannonsville, Pepacton, and Neversink in the Delaware River basin, and Rondout in the Hudson River basin. Work began on the Delaware system in 1937. It includes the Delaware Aqueduct, completed in 1944, which was then the world’s longest aqueduct at 105 miles and designed to convey up to 900 million gallons of water per day.

The Neversink Reservoir, completed in 1954 in Sullivan County, NY, is a vital component of New York City’s Delaware Water Supply System. It impounds the Neversink River, holding 34.9 billion gallons at full capacity, and transfers water via the 5-mile Neversink-Grahamsville tunnel to the Rondout Reservoir. The system provides drinking water, flood mitigation, and cold-water habitat for trout.

Our region has long occupied a unique position in New York’s environmental story. Its natural resources are both a source of pride and a point of responsibility. The same lakes and streams that draw visitors each summer are part of a delicate watershed system. The same mountains that offer solitude and beauty are ecosystems under increasing pressure from development, climate shifts, and human activity. Earth Day, then, is not simply about appreciation—it’s about stewardship.