WEST MILFORD — The organization in charge of sending water from a West Milford reservoir to the city of Newark will soon dissolve into a public department controlled by the city and the administration of Mayor Cory Booker.
Beginning May 31, the Newark Watershed Conservation & Development Corporation, a non-profit, semi-independent organization that operated the Pequannock Water Treatment Facility in West Milford, will be taken over by the City of Newark’s Water and Sewer Department.
Booker said the move is part of a plan to "ensure that the City of Newark's water system will be operated and managed more efficiently," according to a press release from spokesperson Dreena Whitfield.
"For years, Mayor Booker and his administration have talked about the need to reinvest and maximize the City of Newark's most important asset; the water system," according to the statement.
News of the proposed takeover has come as city and state agencies have launched investigations into the non-profit, for which Booker serves as chairman of the board.
According to tax filings, the Newark Watershed Conservation & Development Corporation's budget grew from roughly $9.7 million in 2009 to more than $10.3 million in 2011.
The City of Newark and the NWCDC have also developed a plan to ensure that there is a smooth transition for all staff, personnel and residents, Whitfield said.
The Township of West Milford is currently engaged in a lobbying effort to increase compensation from Newark for the maintenance of the 35,000-acre watershed property that supplies the state's largest city with water.
West Milford Mayor Bettina Bieri declined to comment on the changes, citing sensitivities of the lobbying effort.
"We just don't know how this might affect our strategy," Bieri said.