Yonkers reservoir cap isn't needed

A federal mandate that New York City spend $1.6 billion to cover one of its reservoirs to prevent disease spread by bird droppings is the sort of thing that gives bureaucracies a bad name.

The Environmental Protection Agency wants the city to put a cement cap on the 90-acre Hillview Reservoir in Westchester County to prevent cryptosporidium, a microbe that causes symptoms ranging from a mild stomach upset to, in the case of people with a compromised immune system, life-threatening disease.

But there are only about 100 cases of the infection reported each year in the city of more than eight million people. And New York City is already building the world's largest ultraviolet disinfection facility to eliminate pathogens such as cryptosporidium from the water. With the $1.5-billion Catskill-Delaware Water Ultraviolet Disinfection Facility due to open next year, the cement cover would be an expensive solution in search of a minor problem.

EPA officials say the disinfection will occur before the water reaches the reservoir, where it could be tainted by additional droppings. But Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer want the EPA to reconsider the mandate. The reservoir has delivered safe drinking water to the city for 95 years, they said in letters to EPA Director Lisa Jackson.

President Barack Obama has pledged to pare burdensome regulation. This is a fine opportunity to make good on that promise.