WAWARSING – The New York City Department of Environmental Protection shut down the Rondout-West Branch tunnel of the Delaware Aqueduct late last week. The tunnel, which is severely cracked and leaks between 13 and 35 million gallons of water each day, has become the informally recognized culprit for severe flooding of residents in the Wawarsing area for the last several years. Each time the DEP shuts it down, residents notice effects in and around their homes.

"We're noticing a pattern here," said Laura Smith of the effects the shut-downs seem to have. Smith has become one of the main spokespeople for the flooded residents of the area. She and her neighbor Julianne Lennon have led the charge to hold the DEP accountable for what they view as a major crime of trespassing, as New York City's water routinely invades their properties.

"When we know they're going to be preparing for a shut down, there's the surge of water. They're anticipating a shut down, so they send more water through. And then the water level goes down," said Smith, referring to water levels of her neighborhood's wells. Each shut-down seems to correlate with a massive decrease in well water levels.

"We noticed last week even prior to this that the water table is still pretty high," she said. "I flush my toilet and I hear gurgling in the sink — I mean, come on."

The tunnel was last turned off for maintenance last month, and with this, the third such shut-down since November, it's possible that preparations for the department to begin a more permanent fix for the leaky underground tunnel are starting to take shape. However, most attempts to get specific information from the DEP have left residents frustrated.

"Julianne and I put our heads together, and we've decided that we've had enough of this tiptoeing around," said Smith. "We're going to head back up to Congressman Hinchey's office and make contact once again with Senator Bonacic and see if they can get any better answers than what we're getting."

In the meantime, the next meeting of the Project Advisory Committee, a group comprised of local residents afflicted by the flooding, DEP representatives, and county and town officials, will gather at Wawarsing Town Hall on Wednesday, January 27 at 6 p.m.