Ten years ago this week, Rockland County residents defeated a desalination proposal by Suez Water, the world’s second-largest water company. On December 17th, 2015, the New York State Public Service Commission (the PSC) ordered Suez to abandon plans to desalinate water from the Hudson River for Rockland’s drinking water. The landmark David & Goliath decision followed eight years of research and organizing by the Rockland Water Coalition, comprised of 34 local grassroots civic and environmental groups and larger organizations, such as Riverkeeper, Scenic Hudson, Food & Water Watch, Sierra Club, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, and Clearwater, together
with a core group of informed citizens, supported by key elected officials.
Rockland residents resoundingly opposed the desalination proposal. In 2013, over 1,600 people turned out over two nights of Public Service Commission public hearings, overwhelmingly speaking in opposition to the Suez proposal.
Residents strongly objected to the fact that the water from the desalination plant would have included trace amounts of radioactive byproducts from the leaking Indian Point nuclear power plant and would have harmed irreplaceable aquatic habitat in Haverstraw Bay.
Residents also strongly opposed the massive construction costs and ongoing
operational costs of the proposed desalination plant. A 2017 report by NYS Comptroller DiNapoli, found that Rockland’s Suez customers already paid the highest water rates in the state.
Many opposed the desalination proposal due to the very high energy consumption for operation. In comments to the PSC, Prof. Klaus Jacob, a renowned scientist at Columbia University’s Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, called Suez’s desalination proposal “an abysmal, energy-guzzling greenhouse gas machine that has no place in a modern energy and climate-change conscious environment and society 1 .”
The Rockland Water Coalition advocated instead for an economically and
environmentally sustainable water policy, which would maximize conservation and efficiency and repair of leaking infrastructure, as well as sound land use policy.
In 2014, Rockland County established the Rockland County Task Force on Water Resources to create a comprehensive water strategy for the county. In 2026 the Task Force will continue the work to craft a County Water Plan and will be reaching out to involve the public in water conservation.
Rockland Water Coalition members continue to call for a more sustainable approach to development which will protect Rockland’s water supplies, as well as maximizing water conservation and efficiency, sound land use policies, and planning for climate impacts.
Public education is essential, involving Rockland residents as stewards of our water supply.
On the tenth anniversary of the landmark victory, the work is not finished. The defeat of the desalination plan became a model for other citizen water watch groups defending their water. In the same way, the Rockland Water Coalition continues to believe that Rockland could be a model for a sustainable water policy, which will protect our water supply and our precious natural habitats.