The New York City Department of Environmental Protection says 2017 was a record year for kayak and canoe rentals in its watershed in the Catskills. DEP officials say businesses in the Catskills rented 6 percent more boats on four of the city’s upstate reservoirs.
They say 1,646 boats were used through DEP’s recreational boating program, including 968 canoes and kayaks that were rented from local businesses – the most of any year since rentals began in 2014. Pepacton and Neversink reservoirs were the most popular, followed by visits to the Schoharie Reservoir and Cannonsville. DEP will make one change to its boating programs in 2018 to further protect the reservoirs from invasive species. It will suspend the pilot program that permitted the use of electric trolling motors for fishing at Cannonsville Reservoir.
