It is not because the risk is higher in these areas. It is, rather, that these two municipal water supplies do
not have the same drinking water filtration systems in place to remove the contaminants before they reach
the public drinking supply. In order for NYC and Syracuse to continue use the Delaware/Catskill watershed as a source of unfiltered drinking water, they must adhere to the terms of long-standing agreements
(known as Filtration Avoidance Agreements) with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New
York Department of Health. These agreements include stringent requirements (more stringent than the
requirements in places that drain into filtered water systems) on levels of phosphorus, suspended sediment,
microbes, and toxic compounds, including petroleum in watershed water. If the EPA and NY Department
of Health find that NYC is not meeting the requirements of its Filtration Avoidance Agreement, they would
be required to build water treatment facilities that would cost the state billions of dollars.
That is why the permitting process is harder for NYC and Syracuse watersheds.