The city and the Monroe County Water Authority probably won't reach a new water-sharing agreement before the current one expires in April, and they are considering a short-term extension to bridge the gap.

"We just need some more time to keep hammering out the details," says Dick Metzger, the Water Authority's director of production and transmission.

Under the original 30-year agreement, which began in April 1978, the two entities sell excess water to each other. City Council will vote this month on extending the agreement through the end of the year. The extension also requires approval by the Water Authority's board.

City Councilmember Carolee Conklin said at a meeting last week that she'd support the extension, but that she had serious misgivings about the Water Authority, given its recent scandals.

"I'm very distrustful of them," she said. "I don't admire their business practices. Quite honestly, I don't see the need for their existence."

Criticism of the Water Authority peaked last year after a report from the attorney general's office said that former authority director John Stanwix received unwarranted benefits. Stanwix is also accused of collecting payments for consulting work while he was still on the authority's payroll. He is facing a misdemeanor criminal charge.

Water Authority officials have said that they've taken steps to provide more oversight of such payments.

The water-sharing agreement is complex, and each side has issues to consider. Each year, the city makes costly upgrades to its aging system, and right now, it's wrestling with downsizing and updating its reservoirs. The Water Authority, meanwhile, wants to build a new plant in Webster. The plant, observers say, could give the authority leverage in the negotiations, since it would increase capacity and lessen the authority's need for city water. The authority already has the necessary $80 million in funding lined up and the DEC is reviewing the permit applications.

There are questions about the future of the city's water system, including Hemlock and Canadice Lakes. Environmentalists and residents want to see the lakes and the surrounding land permanently preserved.

Some observers say they are worried that a new agreement could mean some degree of consolidation of the city and county water systems. They are particularly worried that consolidation could mean loss of protection for the two lakes. 

Last spring, right before the city and the Water Authority started negotiations, longstanding concerns that the property could be transferred or sold for development flared up. The city and state have since had discussions about the state purchasing the property as park land. Water Authority officials have gone on record as supporting a state takeover.

City Council authorized an appraisal of the lakeside land, and the regional DEC office expects its own assessment to come back in the next two weeks, says Linda Vera, a citizen participation specialist. The assessments are needed before the state and the city can begin discussing a land deal. If the state does agree to buy the land, it will have to find money for the purchase, which may be difficult in a tough budget year.

The state-city talks are encouraging to environmentalists, but since the focus is on the land, another outstanding concern remains unresolved.

"The next question is, what's going to happen to the water," says Hugh Mitchell, of the Sierra Club.