New York Celebrates Water Week
Join the Celebration!
Join DEC in celebrating New York's Water Week May 10-16 in 2026 with the theme, Data Behind Every Drop - Informed Management Decisions. DEC has been entrusted with the responsibility to protect and conserve New York State's water resources for the benefit of all inhabitants of the State. This means protecting and conserving water used for drinking, recreating, agriculture, and preserving habitat. It also means reducing the impacts from storms to homes, businesses, and public infrastructure. To do this, DEC manages water withdrawals and wastewater discharges, enforces laws and regulations, develops water quality standards, monitors the quality of waters, provides flood preparedness strategies, and works with partners to do all these activities. Past and present data collection, modeling, and analyses support and inform all this work and more.
DEC's Division of Water invites you to learn more about its programs to protect and conserve New York's waters and promote resiliency to flooding. During Water Week 2026, watch for DEC social media posts about the monitoring and research being conducted by DEC and its partners and the resulting watershed management work.
In New York, we are fortunate to have an abundant supply of water in our lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands, as well as underground, for people to use and enjoy. All New Yorkers share the responsibility to keep our waters clean and take actions to be resilient against impacts into the future.
During Water Week and every day, we encourage you to find ways to help protect and conserve New York's water resources. Ideas for water-related activities can be found on the watershed stewardship and keep water clean webpages.
Data Supports New York's Water Management
Water Quality
DEC takes a data driven approach to water resource management. High quality data and a deliberate approach to monitoring, assessment, research, and reporting provide scientific foundation to inform effective management strategies. DEC clearly defines methodologies for data collection and assessment of attainment of best uses. DEC’s waterbody assessments, research publications, and waterbody reports, are publicly available. (See links below)
New York State has a comprehensive Monitoring Program Strategy (the Strategy) that serves all water quality management needs and addresses all State waterbody types: flowing waters (streams and rivers), ponded waters (lakes, reservoirs, and ponds), the Great Lakes and their embayments, estuaries and coastal areas, wetlands, and groundwater. The primary objective of the Strategy is to efficiently generate data that inform waterbody assessments, management decisions, and Clean Water Act reporting requirements. The Strategy incorporates a standard set of minimum quality assurance thresholds for all Division of Water programs. This ensures all environmental data generated and processed are of known and acceptable quality needed for their intended use.
Learn more about DEC’s water quality monitoring:
- Water Quality Monitoring Strategy
- Ongoing Special Water Monitoring Studies
- Monitoring Data and Data Management
- Water Research, Analysis, and Reporting
Water Quantity
In addition to water quality, DEC monitors the amount of water available. The preservation and protection of water resources is vital to New York's residents and businesses, who rely on these resources for drinking water supplies and to support agriculture, manufacturing, and other industries and recreation in the State. Aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna are also dependent on these critical resources to maintain healthy populations. DEC has been entrusted with the responsibility to conserve and control New York State's water resources for the benefit of all inhabitants of the State.
In New York, drought status determinations are based on a State Drought Index that uses New York State specific attributes and datasets. DEC and USGS are partners in evaluating hydrologic conditions across the state including stream discharge, water levels, precipitation, and components from water-quality monitors. This data and additional information from other Federal, State, and local agencies assist DEC and the State Drought Management Task Force in evaluating regional conditions.
Learn more about DEC’s water quantity monitoring:
Dam Safety, Coastal, and Flood Protection
Water stored behind a dam represents potential energy which can create a hazard to life and property located downstream of a dam. In order for a dam to safely fulfill its intended function, it must be constructed, operated and maintained properly. The Division of Water’s Dam Safety Section is responsible for inspecting the safety of dams; the technical review of proposed dam construction or modification; monitoring remedial work for compliance with dam safety criteria; and emergency preparedness.
New York State has coastal areas, such as the coastlines along the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island Sound, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. These areas are at risk to coastal erosion from natural and human activities. Therefore, DEC works to preserve natural protective features, such as beaches, dunes, and bluffs, which absorb the wave energy of open water. Dunes and bluffs are especially effective against storm-induced high water. Because coastal erosion can threaten life and property, DEC works with the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works Program to study coastal erosion and develop solutions. These are usually large-scale projects that impact entire communities. New York State also regulates coastal land use and development, new construction, and natural protective features.
Floodplains are low-lying lands next to rivers and streams. When left in a natural state, floodplain systems store and dissipate floods without adverse impacts to people or property. But buildings, roads, and parking lots are being built where forests and meadows used to be, which decreases the land's natural ability to store and absorb water. Coupled with changing weather patterns, this construction can make floods more severe and increase everyone's chance of being flooded. DEC works with communities throughout the state to find ways to reduce or protect against property damage caused by flooding. Floodplain maps and modeling data guide the solutions.
Learn more about DEC's Dam Safety, Coastal, and Flood Protection programs.
Permitting, Compliance and Enforcement
State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permits are issued for wastewater discharges from municipal and industrial treatment plants, stormwater discharges from construction, industrial and municipal areas, and for waste discharges from animal feeding operations, among other activities. Once permits are issued, the Division of Water works to ensure that permit requirements are met. In some instances, legal action is required to enforce permit requirements and protect water quality. The compliance and enforcement program works in concert with the permitting program toward the goal of eliminating the pollution of New York waters and maintaining the highest quality of water possible.
All entities with SPDES permits are required to report data and information about wastewater and stormwater discharges. DEC uses this data, along with information gathered during inspections, water sampling, and information from the public, to determine if the permitted entity is meeting its SPDES permit requirements.
Learn more about the Division of Water’s SPDES compliance and enforcement program.
