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Earlier this week, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) slightly modified the city's usual tap water system to account for upcoming repair work on the Delaware Aqueduct, where about half of the city's water supply comes from. So if your tap water is tasting slightly "off," do not be alarmed and do not call your super: it's all part of the plan.
Specifically, the agency increased the amount of water coming from the Croton Watershed, a total of 12 reservoirs in Westchester and Putnam counties, to make up for the shortage caused by the two-week shutdown of the Delaware Aqueduct. Between March 6 and 19, the latter channel, which is actually the longest tunnel in the world, will undergo a series of planned tests to properly prep it for a much longer leak repair-related closure scheduled for October.
Believe it or not, the $1 billion project, which will connect a 2.5-mile-long bypass tunnel around the aqueduct's leaks, was approved in 2010. In true New York City, it took us over a decade to kick off the work.
“Nearly 10 million New Yorkers count on us to provide them with high-quality water every single day of the year, without fail, and this complex repair of the Delaware Aqueduct will ensure that we can continue to meet that essential mission for generations to come,” said DEP commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala in an official statement.
Of course, given the importance of tap water when making bagels, plenty of New Yorkers have taken to social media to preemptively mourn the original flavor of our city's unofficial food. Whether that's a legitimate worry is yet to be seen, although we honestly believe that the best bagels in New York will taste just as delicious as they always have throughout the next few weeks as well.