The Upper Mohawk Valley Regional Water Finance Authority's settlement with the New York Canal Corp. is a credit positive, Moody's Investors Service said.
On July 11 the authority, which serves 130,000 with water drawn from the Hinckley Reservoir, announced a legal settlement that will ensure that it will have adequate rights to draw water from that reservoir.
The reservoir, located 18 miles north of Utica and owned by the state of New York, also provides hydropower for the New York State Power Authority, drinking water for Oneida and Herkimer counties and water level adjustment for the Erie Canal System.
"The credit-positive settlement mitigates the risk that an unfavorable court ruling would have inhibited the authority's access to the reservoir, which is the source of most of the drinking water for the city of Utica and surrounding areas in Oneida County," said analyst Dan Seymour in a report.
Moody's rates Utica at Baa1 and Oneida at A1. Both have negative outlooks.
