Monday, June 5, 2023
Subscriber Login
My Profile
SpotlightNews
  • Home
  • News
    • Election 2022
    • Business
      • Spotlight On Business
      • Spotlight on Finance
    • Crime and Police
    • Discover-Towns
      • Discover Coeymans Selkirk and Feura Bush
      • Discover Delmar
      • Discover Glenmont
      • Discover Guilderland
      • Discover Latham and Boght
      • Discover Loudonville
      • Discover Menands
      • Discover Slingerlands
      • Discover Village of Colonie
      • Discover Voorheesville and New Scotland
    • Fire Departments
    • Government
    • Milestones
    • Schools
    • Sports
    • Obituaries
  • The Spot 518
    • Galleries
    • Art
    • Food and Recipes
    • Health & Fitness
    • Music
    • Theatre
  • Hot Spots Calendar
    • Calendar Listings
    • Submit Your Event
  • Opinion
    • Blogs
    • Our Opinion
    • Point of View
    • Your Opinion
  • Family Now
    • Parenting News
    • Senior News
  • Towns
    • Albany County
    • Bethlehem
    • Colonie
    • Guilderland
    • New Scotland
  • Classifieds
    • Employment – Hire Power
    • Services In the Spotlight
    • Classified Listings
    • Advertiser Login
  • Subscribe
    • Subscriber login
    • Give the gift of news
    • Join us – subscribe today
    • Newsletter sign up
    • Renew Subscription
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Election 2022
    • Business
      • Spotlight On Business
      • Spotlight on Finance
    • Crime and Police
    • Discover-Towns
      • Discover Coeymans Selkirk and Feura Bush
      • Discover Delmar
      • Discover Glenmont
      • Discover Guilderland
      • Discover Latham and Boght
      • Discover Loudonville
      • Discover Menands
      • Discover Slingerlands
      • Discover Village of Colonie
      • Discover Voorheesville and New Scotland
    • Fire Departments
    • Government
    • Milestones
    • Schools
    • Sports
    • Obituaries
  • The Spot 518
    • Galleries
    • Art
    • Food and Recipes
    • Health & Fitness
    • Music
    • Theatre
  • Hot Spots Calendar
    • Calendar Listings
    • Submit Your Event
  • Opinion
    • Blogs
    • Our Opinion
    • Point of View
    • Your Opinion
  • Family Now
    • Parenting News
    • Senior News
  • Towns
    • Albany County
    • Bethlehem
    • Colonie
    • Guilderland
    • New Scotland
  • Classifieds
    • Employment – Hire Power
    • Services In the Spotlight
    • Classified Listings
    • Advertiser Login
  • Subscribe
    • Subscriber login
    • Give the gift of news
    • Join us – subscribe today
    • Newsletter sign up
    • Renew Subscription
No Result
View All Result
Spotlight News
No Result
View All Result
Home Towns Colonie

Stony Creek is ‘obsolete to Colonie’

Jim Franco by Jim Franco
July 29, 2020
in Colonie, Government, News, Towns
Reading Time: 3 mins read
The Stony Creek Reservoir. Jim Franco/Spotlight News

The Stony Creek Reservoir. Jim Franco/Spotlight News

COLONIE — The $3.2 million project to share an emergency backup water system with the City of Albany is operational, rendering the Stony Creek Reservoir obsolete.

John Frazer Jr., head of the town’s Water Department, during a presentation to the Town Board, said while there are still some final details to finish up, the pipes are in the ground and Albany has already had to use the system twice.

There are two hookups, one at Albany Shaker Road and one on New Karner Road. Combined, if something happens to Colonie’s water sources, they can provide town residents with enough water to satisfy its average daily usage.

Latham Water District Superintendent John Frazer and Dan Marshall, the chief water treatment plant operator, watch massive water filters get cleaned in 2019. Jim Franco/Spotlight News.

The relationship is ideal, Frazer said, because the primary sources of water for the town and the city are distinctly different and each susceptible to different types of risks.

For example, a drought or dry weather will lower levels in the Alcove Reservoir in Coeymans and Basic Creek Reservoir in Westerloo, Albany’s prime sources of water, while the Mohawk River, Colonie’s main source of water, is largely immune to drought. Frazer said the spot where Colonie gets its water is a pool, upstream from a damn, and was not impacted by the most severe drought in a century during the early 1960s.

But, Colonie has a difficult time processing river water after severe storms like Irene that can stir up sediment and other things. The reservoirs are largely standing bodies of water that benefit from heavy rainfall.

Should Albany need Colonie water, the town bills the city and vice versa. The total cost of the project was split evenly, with 60 percent being covered by a state grant.

The Loudonville connection includes 4,000 feet of 24-inch pipe with the capacity to pump 10 million gallons per day. The connection on New Karner Road entails 3500 feet of 16-inch pipe and can generate 2.4 million gallons a day.

“From those two connections we can meet our average flow on any given day should something happen at our treatment plant or the wells or the river,” Frazer said.

All told, the town’s water district can generate a capacity of 44 million gallons per day with 38.5 million gallons coming from the Mohawk and the rest from wells along the river.

The damn creating the Stony Creek Reservoir was built in 1952 and filled in a year later. But, the pipes running under the river to Niskayuna and up River Road to the treatment plant on Onderdonk Avenue have not been used since 2004.

“The project we started a few years ago now makes the reservoir obsolete to the town of Colonie,” Frazer said.

And, it costs about $218,000 a year to own and maintain the reservoir between taxes to the Shenendehowa School District and the Town of Clifton Park and maintenance like mowing and upkeep of the damn.

The town has toyed with the idea of selling the reservoir in Clifton Park and the some 1,000 acres that surrounds it but so far a deal has not come to fruition.

Water restrictions

On average, the town uses 10 million gallons a day, but on three consecutive days in June, that number spiked to more than 20 million gallons for the first time in years. With a capacity to generate 44 million gallons a day, on resident asked why there was a water restriction in place.

The answer was simple: COVID-19.

The chemicals used to make river water potable are different in the summer and winter and the changeover entails an involved process that takes manpower and time. Water Department employees were essential workers by the state, but shifts were split in half to avoid infecting the entire crew so the process could not be compete in time to make the seasonal chemical transition. The bottom line, Frazer said, is capacity was cut by a third.

Combine that with a dry summer — there was a half inch of rain in June — and the unprecedented usage mentioned above and the restrictions were a prudent decision.

It is the first time since 2004 the town has had to issue water restrictions. The reason for that is the water treatment plant was upgraded in 2005 to increase capacity.

Tags: John FrazerLatham Water District
ShareTweetShareShare
Previous Post

U.S. REP. PAUL TONKO: Congress must act to save lives

Next Post

Medical arts building gets final go-ahead in Colonie

Leave Comment

Stay Connected with Us

Recent News

Memorial Meltdown was held at Charles R. Wood Park in Lake George, Saturday, May 27.

SPOTTED: Memorial Meltdown 2023

June 5, 2023

OBITUARY: Annmarie Griffiths of Slingerlands

June 5, 2023
The Sure Stay Hotel on Wolf Road in Colonie. Photo by Amy Modesti/ Spotlight News

Migrants come to Colonie – Plan for 400 to stay at Sure Stay Hotel stopped with suit

June 5, 2023

Bethlehem Area Weekly Police Blotter May 24th – 31st

June 4, 2023

Hot Stories This Week

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Photo by Tom Heffernan Sr.

Arrest made in Delmar Deer Run Apartment fire – Video

June 2, 2023
Delmar Fire Department

Updated – Breaking News: Multiple building fire near Cherry and Kenwood Avenues

May 30, 2023

Colonie Area Weekly Police Blotter May 24th – 31st

June 3, 2023
The Sure Stay Hotel on Wolf Road in Colonie. Photo by Amy Modesti/ Spotlight News

Migrants come to Colonie – Plan for 400 to stay at Sure Stay Hotel stopped with suit

June 5, 2023
Memorial Meltdown was held at Charles R. Wood Park in Lake George, Saturday, May 27.

SPOTTED: Memorial Meltdown 2023

June 5, 2023

OBITUARY: Annmarie Griffiths of Slingerlands

June 5, 2023
The Sure Stay Hotel on Wolf Road in Colonie. Photo by Amy Modesti/ Spotlight News

Migrants come to Colonie – Plan for 400 to stay at Sure Stay Hotel stopped with suit

June 5, 2023

Bethlehem Area Weekly Police Blotter May 24th – 31st

June 4, 2023
Spotlight News

Spotlight News, The Spot 518 and Capital District Family Now are divisions of Community Media Group, LLC. Our local offices are located at 341 Delaware Ave, Delmar, NY 12054. You can contact us at 518.439.4949.

Browse

Follow Us

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact the Editor
  • Employment
  • Our Team
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Legal Notices Portal

© 2022 Community Media Group, LLC - 341 Delaware Ave. Delmar, NY 12054. 518.439.4949

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Election 2022
  • News
    • Crime and Police
    • Fire Departments
    • Milestones
    • Real Estate and Housing
    • Schools
    • Sports
    • Spotlight On Business
    • Spotlight on Finance
  • The Spot 518
    • Galleries
    • Art
    • Theatre
    • Music
    • Food and Drink
    • Health & Fitness
  • Hot Spots Calendar
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Opinion
  • Classifieds
    • Advertiser Login
    • Service Directory
    • Hire Power – Employer Spotlight
  • Capital District Family Now
    • Parenting News
    • Senior News
  • Towns
    • Albany County
    • Bethlehem
    • Colonie
    • Guilderland
  • Log In
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Community Media Group, LLC - 341 Delaware Ave. Delmar, NY 12054. 518.439.4949