Where New York Stands on a Groundwater Crisis

Good morning. It’s Tuesday. Today we’ll see how New York manages its groundwater amid a nationwide crisis. And since it’s Election Day, we’re keeping track of the races to watch.

A nationwide groundwater crisis causes underground layers of porous rock or sediment, known as aquifers, to drain. This comes at a time when groundwater is more important than ever due to climate change, making rivers and streams less reliable as a water source.

Groundwater depletion means more than tap water: It’s also a problem for farmers, because irrigation from groundwater made the West’s arid landscape “wonderfully productive,” as Chris Scheuring, a water attorney with the California Farm Bureau and a family farmer, says. It states.

The New York Times asked all fifty states how they manage groundwater. The Times had already reported that overpumping is threatening drinking water sources on Long Island. Here’s what I learned from Dionne Searcey, one of the reporters on the project that aimed to understand the tangle of state procedures for regulating groundwater.

How well does New York manage its groundwater?

Like most states, New York has many regulations governing the use of groundwater. Statewide, facilities that pump 100,000 gallons per day or more are required to be licensed and self-report their annual withdrawals. These rules are intended to monitor and regulate major users of groundwater.

But New York, like every other state to some extent, allows well owners to operate essentially on the honor system. Experts told us this leaves open the possibility of underreporting. You can see the incentives: anyone who exceeds their permit will be subject to fines and/or penalties of any kind.

Does New York know how many wells are extracting groundwater?

Not really, and that’s the case in almost all states, because few if any households record the number of domestic wells, and older wells are often exempt from registration requirements, even those with high volumes.

In New York, data has been collected since the 1930s on all newly constructed wells in Nassau, Suffolk, Kings, and Queens counties. But data on the construction of wells for other provinces has only been collected since April 2000.

In total, the state estimates there are about 935,000 water sources here in New York, but records are kept for only about 300,000 of them.

How do regulations in the states bordering New York – mainly New Jersey and Connecticut, but also Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Vermont – affect New York?

Aquifers don’t respect state lines, so groundwater problems in one state can certainly impact another – but there are no specific examples that come to mind. That could change in the future, as erratic weather caused by climate change, including droughts, begins to draw in water layers that are no longer replenished by rainfall and snowmelt as they used to be.

Pumping groundwater for irrigation or for use in large factories can also drain streams, lakes and rivers. But it is a very complicated system.

Some states, including Vermont, generally exempt agricultural irrigation from their regulations. Agriculture is one of the largest users of groundwater nationally. In Vermont, dairies often do not have to report large-scale use.

There are 85,957 people living in New York who don’t have to read the next 425 words. They voted early.

For the rest of us, today is Election Day. Polls in New York are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The deadline to request an absentee ballot online has passed. There must be a completed absentee ballot postmarked or delivered to the election board by the end of the day today in your province before the polls close tonight.

There are races for district attorney in the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island, but only Melinda Katz, the district attorney of Queens, faces a challenger. Two voting measures for the entire country include a debt limit for small-town school districts and the construction of sewer facilities.

Here are some races to watch:

• Two sitting city council members are fighting over a redrawn district in southern Brooklyn. One of them – Ari Kagan, a former radio and television host from Belarus – recently switched parties and is now running as a Republican. The Democrat in the race, Justin Brannan, is a former punk rock guitarist and chairman of the Council’s Finance Committee.

• In Bridgeport, Conn., surveillance video showed people stuffing ballot boxes during last month’s Democratic primary. A judge ordered a new primary but said he did not have the authority to postpone the general election so it will take place today as scheduled. Than what? That remains to be seen.

Weather

Prepare for a mostly cloudy day with temperatures in the low 60s. In the afternoon the clouds clear and some sun appears, before temperatures cool to a low around 45 degrees in the evening.

ALTERNATE PARKING

Suspended (Election Day).

The latest New York news

“A very unfair process,” Donald Trump said at one point. At another point, he called New York Attorney General Letitia James “this political hack” and said she wanted to take away his property, “like they do in communist China.”

In about four hours on the witness stand during his civil fraud trial, the former president was irritable, combative and impetuous. My colleague Jonah E. Bromwich writes that Trump’s appearance became a contest of irritated expressions between Judge Arthur Engoron and the former president: Engoron frowned, Trump looked angry. Or, at another point, the judge grinned sarcastically, and the sterner president grinned.

Trump said he was more of a real estate expert than anyone else. He also said he had helped collect documents showing the values ​​of his properties. “I may have some suggestions from time to time,” he said.

The Trump Organization’s financial statements, which the judge in the case has already ruled “clearly contain fraudulent valuations,” are at the center of the case. James accused Trump and other defendants of manipulating the statements to defraud banks and insurers. Trump’s lawyers have already appealed the ruling that the statements contained fraud.

Engoron grew frustrated as he repeatedly tried to slow down Trump and punish him for giving monologues. “This is not a political rally,” Engoron told Trump at one point.

As Trump stepped off the witness stand, Engoron turned to Trump and raised his hand as if to say goodbye. Trump leaned forward and appeared to say one word to the judge. The microphone didn’t pick it up. Outside the courtroom, Trump addressed the cameras for two minutes, saying Monday was a sad day for America and that the case should be dismissed immediately.

METROPOLITAN diary

‘Green mansions’

Dear Diary:

It was a summer evening in 1974 and I was on my way to visit my friend, who lived on Ocean Avenue near Avenue J in Brooklyn.

I came from Queens and read a paperback novel, “Green Mansions” by William Henry Hudson, while waiting on an elevated platform for the M train.

At one point I took a step and the book fell from my hands onto the rails.

Suddenly a tall young man jumped down, picked it up, climbed back up and handed it to me with a smile on his face.

It’s been almost fifty years and I still hope he never did something so dangerous again.

– Linda Grebanier

Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send your entries here And read more Metropolitan Diary here.

Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. – JB

PS Here is today’s Mini crossword And Game competition. You can find all our puzzles here.

Kellina Moore and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com.

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