Governor Kathy Hochul Directs $150 Million for Adirondack and Catskill Mountain Municipal Sewers

HUNTER, N.Y. — Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Monday the distribution of $150 million in state clean water capital grants through the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to construct centralized municipal sewer mains, vacuum collection lines, and advanced biological wastewater treatment plants across eighteen rural mountain communities in the Adirondack and Catskill regions.

The investment addresses a major barrier to upstate rural economic development, where historic resort hamlets and tourist villages—such as Hunter, Windham, Phoenicia, Inlet, and Keene—lacked centralized sewer infrastructure, relying on aging, failing septic tanks situated on steep rocky terrain adjacent to mountain trout streams and New York City drinking water reservoirs.

Protecting Pristine Mountain Waterways and Unlocking Affordable Housing Failing mountain septic systems leach phosphorus and pathogens into pristine trout fisheries while municipal building moratoriums prevent the construction of workforce housing and downtown small business expansion.

"Our Adirondack and Catskill mountain communities are world-renowned destinations for recreation and tourism, but they cannot build housing or support local small businesses without modern clean water infrastructure," Governor Hochul said during an announcement in Hunter. "Small rural towns with limited municipal budgets cannot afford multi-million-dollar sewer projects alone. This $150 million investment delivers direct state funding to lay centralized sewer pipes, protect our pristine mountain rivers, and unlock downtown revitalization across Upstate New York."

Municipal Grant Recipients Key town allocations include:

• Town of Hunter (Greene County): $30 million to construct a centralized municipal sewer district and tertiary treatment plant.
• Town of Shandaken / Phoenicia (Ulster County): $24 million for low-pressure vacuum sewer lines protecting the Esopus Creek watershed.
• Town of Keene (Essex County): $18 million for community septic elimination along the Ausable River.
• Town of Inlet (Hamilton County): $16 million for Fourth Lake waterfront municipal sewer extensions.
• Fourteen additional mountain towns receiving between $4 million and $10 million.

Local town supervisors, environmental advocacy coalitions, and regional business chambers commended the historic grant allocation, highlighting that centralized sewers protect watershed water clarity while enabling downtown workforce housing construction.