Sleepy Hollow Lake refers to both a lake and a co-located residential community in Greene County, NY located 120 miles north of New York City and 28 miles south of Albany, NY in the Hudson River Valley. The lake is a two and a half mile long, 324 acre, 70 foot deep man-made, Class “A” drinking water reservoir for the neighboring communities.
RE: Supposed Class "A" drinking water. Residents/consumers of the water were notified on 8/24/11, via a letter sent through the U.S.P.S., that there were "high trihalomethane levels in the drinking water" for the past four quarters (87 ppb). This notification is a New York State Dept. of Health mandate when levels exceed the maximum containment level of 80 ppb (parts per billion). "Based on quarterly testing...since 1992, trihalomethane levels...have ranged from 2-124 ppb..."
"As stated in the notice, this condition is a direct result of the chlorine that we use to disinfect the water."
The lake is surrounded by a 2,200 acre residential community, also known as “Sleepy Hollow Lake”, which is a Planned Unit Development (PUD) that self-governs residential land use, maintains common roads, parks, beaches, and other recreational facilities, operates most of the development’s sewer and water services, and provides community security and code enforcement. The PUD is located within the boundaries of three municipalities – the Town of Coxsackie, NY, the Town of Athens, NY and the Village of Athens, NY. The postal zip code for the community is 12015, as mail is serviced through the local post office in the Village of Athens.
The community is within the viewshed of the Taconic Hills to the east and the Catskill Mountains to the west. The nearest larger communities are Catskill, NY about 7 miles south, Kingston, NY and Rhinebeck, NY, both about 30 miles south, and Hudson, NY, just 2.5 miles directly across the Hudson River from the community, but reached by car via the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, about 10 driving miles away. An Amtrak passenger rail station is located in Hudson, NY.