Trimming Trees at Shandaken

The West of Hudson Tree Task Force was recently called out to the Shandaken Tunnel Intake Chamber to assist with some hazard tree removal. This photo was snapped moments after DEP employee Kirby Fletcher carefully made his cut. The Shandaken Tunnel Intake Chamber is slated to be completely refurbished, including all of its gates, as part of a larger $400 million program aimed at strengthening the 90-year-old Gilboa Dam and ensuring that Schoharie Reservoir continues to provide reliable, high-quality drinking water to New York City in the future. Preliminary work on the intake chamber is scheduled to start next month. Another component of this work is a $142 million project that will provide DEP with the ability to release water from the reservoir into Schoharie Creek to facilitate dam maintenance, respond to potential emergencies, mitigate ood risk for downstream communities, and enhance downstream habitat for fish and wildlife.