I was glad to join TDC for a video exploring one of the Catskills’ most consequential stories: the watershed that supplies drinking water to millions of New Yorkers.

In “NYC Has World’s Largest Unfiltered Water Supply: Catskill Watershed,” we visit the Ashokan Reservoir, the Catskills Visitor Center, travel through the Catskill Park, and spend time at Platte Clove Preserve to look at the connections among clean water, protected land, public access, local communities, and the long history of conservation in this region.

About 90 percent of New York City’s drinking water comes from the Catskill and Delaware systems. That extraordinary resource depends on far more than reservoirs and infrastructure. It depends on healthy forests, wetlands, streams, working farms, and strong communities throughout the watershed. It also depends on the continued commitment of the people, organizations, agencies, and local governments working to protect the landscape that supports water quality.

The Catskill Center’s role

For more than half a century, the Catskill Center has worked to protect the environmental, cultural, and economic well-being of the Catskills. That work includes land conservation, forest stewardship, watershed protection, invasive-species management, climate resilience, sustainable community development, visitor education, and advocacy for the public investments needed to sustain this region.

The Catskills should not be understood only as the source of New York City’s water. They are also a living region of towns, hamlets, farms, forests, businesses, cultural institutions, and people who make their homes here. Effective watershed protection must respect that reality. It should safeguard water quality and ecological health while supporting the communities that steward this landscape every day.

As Executive Director of the Catskill Center, I have worked to advance that balance through policy advocacy, coalition building, land and forest stewardship, and partnership with local, state, and regional leaders. That means helping ensure the Catskills have a strong voice in Albany and in the public decisions that affect the region’s lands, water, infrastructure, economy, and future.

Watershed policy and advocacy

Watershed protection is not a one-time achievement. It requires ongoing policy attention, stable investment, sound science, and durable relationships among communities and agencies.

A central part of my work has been bringing partners together around the shared needs of the Catskills. Through coalition-based advocacy, the Catskill Center has helped elevate the region’s priorities in state policy and budget discussions. That includes advocacy for Forest Preserve and watershed lands stewardship, visitor education, land protection, climate resilience, and the capacity of local communities to respond to changing environmental and economic conditions.

The Catskill Center also works directly on the ground. During my tenure, the organization has stewarded more than 2,000 acres through direct ownership and conservation easements, helping protect important ecological and scenic lands while expanding opportunities for responsible public access. We have also strengthened visitor education through the Catskill Stewards program and the Catskills Visitor Center, which reaches tens of thousands of visitors annually.

These efforts are connected. Well-managed public lands, informed visitors, healthy forests, resilient communities, and sustained public investment all contribute to a stronger Catskills watershed.

A shared responsibility

The video highlights the Ashokan Reservoir, the Catskill Park, and Platte Clove – places that demonstrate both the beauty and complexity of this landscape. It also acknowledges the difficult history of reservoir development, including the displacement of communities during the construction of the Ashokan Reservoir.

That history matters. Conservation and watershed policy are most durable when they are grounded in honesty, partnership, and respect for the people who live in the region. The goal should not be to preserve a landscape in isolation, but to sustain a living Catskills where clean water, ecological integrity, public access, cultural heritage, and community well-being reinforce one another.

For me, this work is personal as well as professional. I grew up in the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountains, spent two summers in college as an Assistant Forest Ranger in Greene County, and have spent much of my life hiking and exploring this region. I am grateful that my role at the Catskill Center allows me to work with so many committed partners on the long-term stewardship of the Catskills.

Thank you to TDC for helping tell this important story, and for showing why the Catskills matter not only to those of us who live, work, and recreate here, but also to the millions of people who depend on this watershed every day.