Overall Program Activity
 New York’s Regional Councils have been active in water resources management since the 1970s via various federal Clean Water Act funding programs provided through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Substantial funding for NYSARC water projects has come from Sections 205(j) and 604(b) of the Clean Water Act. As required by these sections of the federal law, a State must:
"... develop jointly with local, regional, and interstate entities, a plan for carrying out the program and give funding priority to such entities and designated or undesignated public comprehensive planning organizations to carry out the purposes of this subsection. In giving such priority, the State shall allocate at least 40 percent of the amount granted to
such State for a fiscal year... to regional public comprehensive planning organizations in such State... for the development and implementation of the plan..." [excerpted from Section 205(j)]; and "Each State shall reserve each fiscal year 1 percent of the sums allotted to such State under this section for such fiscal year, or $100,000, whichever amount is
greater, to carry out planning under section 205(j)..." [excerpted from Section 604(b)].
An increasing amount of water resource funds provided by state agencies comes from the NYS Environmental Protection Fund with support through the NYS DEC, NYS DOS, US EPA, and other funding sources.
Since 1988, NYSARC members have worked closely with local governments and taken on water-related initiatives that include:
- watershed planning
- source water protection (both ground and surface water)
- nonpoint source (NPS) pollution control
- stormwater and floodplain management
- streambank and soil erosion
- coordination of water quality/quantity monitoring
- outreach, training, and educational programs
- fostering multi-county, intermunicipal, and governmental collaboration and cooperation to identify, develop and implement necessary water resources programs
- providing technical assistance to communities and counties
- GIS mapping and data development
- inventorying and data collection
- state public participation assistance
- assisting in the development of Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategies (WRAPS), called for under New York State’s Unified Watershed Assessment.
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