Last night, nine members of the Ithaca Common Council voted unanimously to rebuild the current Six Mile Creek water plant. This decision brought an approximately 15-year-long debate about the future of Ithaca’s water supply to a close.

“This is a very historical moment,” Mayor Carolyn K. Peterson said before the vote was taken. She explained that this long-awaited decision, commonly referred to as the “hundred-year decision,” will impact Ithaca’s residents for years to come.

In October 1996, the Council concluded that the current Six Mile Creek water plant was dilapidated and out-of-date. Since then, the Council has debated the best course of action to take.

Two options were considered: rebuild the Six Mile Creek water plant or purchase water from the Southern Cayuga Lake Intermunicipal Water Commission, more commonly known as Bolton Point. Bolton Point's water comes from Cayuga Lake.

After considering the guidance of the Board of Public Works, the Planning and Development Board’s recommendation and years of research, all council members, other than Daniel Cogan M.S. ’96 (D-5th Ward), who was absent from yesterday’s meeting, supported the decision to rebuild the current Six Mile Creek plant.

“This was probably one of the best informed council decisions that I have participated in in a long time,” said Richard Gell, senior managing engineer on the project since discussions began.

The "hundred-year decision": The Ithaca Common Council votes to rebuild the Six Mile Creek water plant last night.

Ithaca owns the Six Mile Creek water plant, affording the city full control over its water. However, if the city had chosen to join the consortium of other munipalities that purchases water from Bolton Point, it is unclear how much control it would have been able to retain. Additionally, the council was concerned with the environmental implications that would have accompanied a decision to purchase Ithaca’s water from Bolton Point.

“This project offers the city a great opportunity to play a leading role in the water industry,” Gell explained. “They will have the authority to decide what green house gas reductions to implement."

Maria Coles (D-1st Ward) expressed her pleasure in the culmination of the years of discussion. “I am really glad that we are concluding this chapter and that we are providing an answer,” Coles said. Coles added that “by concluding it we are eliminating probably the biggest bone among us.” She explained that although “it has been civil,” the debate over the future of Ithaca’s water source was controversial and created contention among the council members.

Steve Eckler, senior managing engineer on the project, said, “I am just happy for the city. We have always talked about this being a hundred-year decision and it’s great to be part of that.”