It's a controversial issue that's been getting a lot of attention lately. With natural gas companies eager to tap into the deposits in the Marcellus shale, there's the promise of new jobs and an economic boost for landowners. But there are still concerns about the process used to extract the gas called hydrofracking. In the first of our two part series Tara Lynn Wagner has more on an issue that's causing some deep divides in New York State.

DELAWARE COUNTY, N.Y. -- Brian Begeal has been a dairy farmer his whole life, working the 312 acres of land that have been in his family since the Civil War. But lately he says the farm is milking him for money.

"Milk prices been so low for so long that basically we don't even make enough money to qualify for social security disability. This past year's been wicked," said Begeal.

This is a large part of the reason he signed a lease to allow natural gas drilling on his property. If drilling is even allowed. The state is currently developing regulations regarding hydraulic fracturing or fracking, a technique environmental groups describe as violent and volatile.

"They involve millions of gallons of water laced with mostly undisclosed chemicals. They're blasted at extremely high pressure to pulverize the rock, so the gas can be extracted. There's huge amounts of waste water that are heavily contaminated that are generated," said attorney Amy Sinding

The concern is what happens if those contaminants make their way into well water, ground water or this body of water that lies just a few miles from Begeal's property. The Cannonsville Reservoir is part of the New York City Watershed -- a pristine, protected water supply that provides unfiltered drinking water to roughly nine million people living downstate. Upstate environmental groups have joined forces with city lawmakers in calling for a ban on drilling in the area.

"Right now New York State has abundant clean water. To just throw that out the window because there is some quick money to be made on another resource makes no economic sense, no environmental sense and no social sense," said Wes Gillingham of Catskill Mountainkeeper.

"I can't imagine the state not letting them drill. If it does, maybe we can turn around and sue the state for not letting us sell what we own," Beagal said.

With roughly three-quarters of the land in the watershed privately owned, DEC officials were also concerned that a ban could pose legal issues. By opting instead for additional regulations, they set what they describe as a quote "high bar" that doesn't prohibit drilling but will likely deter it.

"It's not a ban on drilling in New York State, but it's a requirement that each well go through their own permitting and review process if they propose to drill within the NYC watershed. I doubt the gas companies will put themselves through the extra cost of going through individual permitting inside the watershed," said John Conrad with Conrad Geoscience,

Meanwhile the future of fracking on properties that lie just outside the watershed remains in limbo along with any potential royalties that would be reaped by farmers who've leased their land. A spokesperson for the DEC says the supplemental review for drilling on the Marcellus shale should be completed by the end of the year.