1993年12月，环境保护局发布了一项新的决定，允许在1996年12月之前避免卡茨基尔/特拉华供水的过滤。在三年的豁免期内，DEP必须遵守150多个条件，包括在1999年之前为过滤厂制定初步设计，以及成功实施整个流域保护计划。该市完全致力于流域保护。正如我们最近在威斯康星州密尔沃基、佐治亚州卡罗尔顿和俄勒冈州杰克逊县发现的隐孢子虫病暴发一样，过滤并不能为水传播病原体提供万无一失的屏障。纽约市的饮用水满足并超过地表水处理规则中的所有客观标准。 该市相信，其流域保护计划不仅将维持和改善整个系统的水质，而且将确保完全符合该规则的过滤避免标准。更重要的是，该市认为其流域保护计划是保护公众健康的最有效方式。简言之，该市认为，流域保护与有效消毒相结合，是一种远比昂贵的过滤疗法更好的预防措施。

In December 1993, EPA issued a new determination granting filtration avoidance for the Catskill/Delaware water supply until December 1996. During the three-year waiver period, DEP must comply with over 150 conditions, including producing a preliminary design for a filtration plant by 1999, as well as successful implementation of the whole watershed protection program. The City is totally committed to watershed protection. As we have seen with recent outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Carrolton, Georgia, and Jackson County, Oregon, filtration does not provide a foolproof barrier to waterborne pathogens. New York City's drinking water meets and exceeds all of the objective criteria in the Surface Water Treatment Rule. The City is confident that its Watershed Protection Program will not only maintain and improve water quality throughout the system, but will ensure complete compliance with the Rule's Filtration Avoidance Criteria. More importantly, the City believes that its Watershed Protection Program is the most effective way to protect the public health. In short, the City believes that watershed protection combined with effective disinfection is a far better ounce of prevention than the enormously expensive pound of cure that is filtration.