Finally, that new water supply permit

We've known this was coming for months, and now here it is: A new water supply permit for New York City from the state's Department of Environmental Conservation.

The new permit allows the New York City Department of Environmental Protection to continue its controversial Land Acquisition Program, which isn't that popular upstate, in exhange for a variety of new concessions from the DEP to communities in the watershed that supply the city's water.

Those concessions include increased development rights in hamlets and villages, more recreational access to DEP lands, and a scheme that makes New York City pay a fairer portion of upstate property taxes. We outlined the new deal at length back in November.

To read the DEP's press release about the new permit, click here. Here are links to coverage by the New York Times and a nice, succinct story by the Times-Union