East River 'Waterfalls' Will Be 'Green'

The city and the Public Art Fund did their homework on a plan to put four man-made waterfalls in the East River, reaching out to environmental groups to convince them the project would have minimal ecological impact. Designed by the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, the waterfalls will be on display near the southern tip of Manhattan between mid-July and mid-October.

"The city recognized that to make this project work they needed to conduct outreach to some of the environmental organizations early on," Basil Seggos, an environmental lawyer at Riverkeeper, an advocacy group dedicated to protecting the Hudson River and its tributaries, said. "We aired some of our preliminary concerns, and for the most part they've been addressed."

Mr. Seggos said the waterfalls would not harm fish habitats in the river. "The amount of water being withdrawn is fairly minimal, and even considering the low levels of withdrawal, they've taken a fairly aggressive approach to mitigate the impact," he said.

There are also energy considerations: Water will be pumped to the top of scaffolds that will be between 90 and 120 feet high. The waterfalls will also be illuminated at night. The director of the air and energy program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Ashok Gupta, said the Public Art Fund and the city made a commitment to use efficient pumps and lighting, and to purchase carbon offsets to neutralize the project's own emissions. Although he said he did not know what they ended up choosing, he said the most efficient lighting would be from LEDs. Such lights were used recently for the New Year's Eve ball in Times Square and the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.

"We're happy" about the waterfalls, Mr. Gupta said. "We think it is bringing green technology to public art."

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation also issued a permit for the installation of the scaffolds and the "in-water" components of the waterfalls, stipulating that the project be managed to prevent water contamination or damage to the wetlands environment.

Mr. Seggos said Riverkeeper was also enthusiastic about the art project: "Any chance we can get to show New Yorkers how beautiful the waterfront is, and how important it is from an environmental point of view, is very positive."