April 25, 2003

Project to Map Central Water and Sewer Systems
 

Poughkeepsie... County Executive William R. Steinhaus with Thomas LeGrand, Chairman of the Dutchess County Water and Wastewater Authority (DCWWA) announced today a cooperative project to map central water and sewer systems in the County.

Mr Steinhaus stated, “Planning and supporting water and sewer infrastructure is critical to my Administration’s initiatives to work collaboratively with our local municipalities to maintain strong communities and guide development. One of the strongest planning tools we have available is our computerized mapping capabilites through our developing Geographic Information System (GIS). I have requested the DCWWA to make use of this tool by working in cooperation with the Dutchess County Health Department and the Dutchess County Department of Planning and Development to map central water and sewer systems throughout the County using our GIS resources.”

Chairman Thomas LeGrand added, “Computerized mapping was not available to the Authority in our previous mapping efforts and the resulting paper maps rapidly went out of date. The County has the technology capable of providing an accurate visualization of the water and sewer infrastructure in the County, it is time to implement it, and make it work for us. The ability to integrate the location of water and sewer infrastructure into the County computerized geographic information system and relate it to other data layers such as aerial photos, property boundaries and water resources features will be an excellent planning and analysis tool for the Authority, the County and its Municipalities.”

Executive Director Scott Chase noted, “We will be approaching the owners and operators of some 85 water and sewer systems throughout the County to collect information on their systems over the next several months. It is our intention to make the information available to local municipalities for water and sewer system planning and water resource management purposes. We appreciate the cooperation and support from the County Departments of Planning and Development and Health as we update our tools and develop our long-term plans. Sonja Sjoholm-de Haas, Junior Planner will be leading this effort for the Authority.”

The County Executive closed by stating, “My administration has placed a high priority on planning and managing water & sewer infrastructure to enhance our quality of life and provide opportunities for economic development. I am pleased to work with the Authority to facilitate cooperative efforts such as these.”

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