Beacon Remains In A Stage 1 Drought; Reservoirs Need To Recharge
During the 1/6/2025 City Council Meeting, Beacon’s City Administrator Chris White announced that the City of Beacon continues to be in a Stage 1 Drought. He said: “We still are in a Stage 1 Drought, even though we've had quite a bit of precipitation. We're still recharging the reservoirs, and that's why we haven't declared an end to that.” When the reservoirs dip below 60% full, Beacon’s Stage 1 Drought declaration is triggered.
Beacon’s drinking water comes from different sources:
3 reservoirs: Cargill, Mount Beacon, and Melzingah
3 wells: City of Beacon Wells 1 & 2 and Village of Fishkill Well 8
According to a Water Inspection Report from 2020, the reservoirs hold the following amounts:
Mount Beacon: 124 million gallons
Melzingah: 38 million gallons
Cargill: 152 million gallons
The water is then pumped into 3 water tanks: Howland/Grandview, Mount Beacon and Fairview.
According to Beacon’s 2023 Water Report, Beacon's water system serviced about 14,370 people, not including Downstate Correctional and Fishkill Correctional Facilities. There were about 6,280 services connections in the City of Beacon. The price for 1 unit of water (748 gallons) was $4.61, and the price for water out of town was $9.22.
The water is treated at Beacon’s Water Filtration Plant at 470 Liberty Street, where the current capacity of the plant water production is 4 million gallons. According to Beacon’s 2023 Water Report, the average flow was 2.134 million gallons per day. The maximum withdrawal that year was 2.713
From the 2023 Water Report, usage numbers broke down as follows:
Residential and Commercial: 298,228,348 gallons
Town of Fishkill: 125,041,664 gallons
Department of Corrections: 210,807,000 gallons
Unaccounted water: 144,661,998 gallons
According to the Beacon's Water Report: "Unaccounted for water is water lost due to system leaks, water used during plant operations, water main breaks, use in municipal buildings and operations, system flushing, fire department uses, meter error, and theft of service."