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Public
Employee Press ON THE JOB
FOR NYC Upstate cyber team protects city water
By GREGORY N. HEIRES
Out of the public eye,
a team of computer workers at a Dept. of Environment Protection office in Kingston,
N.Y., plays a crucial role in protecting the safety of New Yorkers drinking
water.
The Local 2627 members have helped develop a software application,
known as WaLIS, which tracks information about the 125,000 acres of upstate watershed
lands owned by New York City to keep pollutants from the water supply.
The
85-mile-long Delaware Aqueduct that brings New York City its tap water is the
longest tunnel in the world. The watershed system, which provides 1.1 billion
gallons of fresh, clean water each day to city residents, includes 19 reservoirs
and more than 6,000 miles of pipes, aqueducts and tunnels.
The WaLIS software
application is part of DEPs Geographic Information System, which helps the
agencys Water Bureau protect the water supply in the watershed.
Our
mission is to provide clean drinking water for New York City, said Jonathan
Tuscanes, a Geographic Information Specialist.
Protecting
the watershed
The work of the Local 2627 members helps the DEP
meet an agreement between the city and federal government reached years ago. The
agreement allowed the city to stick with its gravity-based natural filtration
system instead of building an expensive filtration plants. The pact requires the
city to acquire millions of dollars worth of upstate land to protect the quality
of the water entering the reservoirs.
Joe Giannelli, a Computer Associate
(Software) 3, worked with a consultant to develop WaLIS, which is used to study
geographical data and create maps. By carefully tracking watershed parcels, it
provides crucial information for the land acquisition program, and the software
helps DEP analysts make decisions about how to protect the watershed environment.
Through their technical expertise, Local 2627 members
are boosting efficiency at the DEP.
Our members are helping bring
DEP into the information age, said Local 2627 President Robert D. Ajaye.
Today,
thousands of water samples are fed by hand into a database and reports can take
weeks to generate. Computer Associate (Software) 1 Brian OMalley is helping
computerize DEPs water sample gathering.
Once the new information
system is in place, the readings of field workers will be automatically uploaded
to a database. The system will allow for quick analysis of data, and it will be
used for routine reports and analysis.
What I am implementing will
help ensure that the water stays pure as it travels through the watershed,
OMalley said.
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