The recession has been a boon for New York City's watershed protection program, which took advantage of low prices and thin competition to purchase a record 11,309 acres of land to help buffer the upstate reservoirs.

According to the Daily Freeman, New York City has been acquiring vacant land in the Catskills and Delaware watersheds since 1997 in order to avoid constructing a prohibitively expensive water filtration plant. While the City has spent $541 million on this program over the past 13 years, the filtration plant would cost an estimated $10 billion.New York City is investing significant resources to preserve vistas such as this one

"New York City has protected more than 108,000 acres in the Catskill and Delaware watersheds under the program and more than 2,000 acres in the Croton watershed closer to the city," said David Warne, the assistant commissioner for the Bureau of Water Supply.

City regulations prohibit any development of these properties in order to keep the water supply free from polluted runoff. However, much of the watershed land is open to hiking, hunting, and fishing.

City officials say that the brisk pace of land purchases over the past few years has been sustained so far in 2010. Although New York City wants to extend the watershed protection program well into the next decade, the booming rate of land acquisition is not expected to continue indefinitely.