In a 4-1 vote Tuesday evening, July 22, the Southold Town Board enacted new restrictions on irrigation, at a time when the town’s groundwater is facing unprecedented threats.
Councilwoman Jill Doherty voted against the proposal, saying it would be difficult to enforce, and Councilwoman Louisa Evans, the Fishers Island representative on the board, was not present — she left the meeting early to catch a ferry back to Fishers Island.
The Town Board had initially removed two provisions from the bill — requiring automatic sprinklers use odd/even watering schedules and requiring that irrigation companies provide a letter to their customers indicating their system is in compliance with town regulations — but added the first provision back at the urging of the town’s Water Advisory Committee, and added the second provision back after Orient farmer Tom Stevenson asked at a public hearing before the vote why it had been omitted from the legislation as it appeared in the public hearing notice. It had been in an earlier draft unveiled in May.
Using odd/even watering schedules, automated irrigation systems are set so they water on odd-numbered days for properties with odd-numbered street addresses and even-numbered days for properties with even-numbered addresses. That method of regulating the use of water is effective at reducing peak demand on the water supply, though some argue it has limited impact on overall water use.
Suffolk County Water Authority Chairman Jeff Szabo gave an impassioned argument in favor of odd/even watering schedules at the public hearing that preceded the vote. The Water Authority has proposed a major new water pipeline project to supply the North Fork’s peak demand, which occurs during the heat of summer when many customers are irrigating their lawns, estimating 70 percent of the water it supplies is used for outside activities like irrigation.
“When everyone waters at once, our system cannot recover,” he said. “Odd/even watering would help us meet consistency… and it’s effective at reducing water use while keeping lawns healthy and lush.”
Mr. Szabo said that, during times of peak demand, the Water Authority’s storage tanks on Moore’s Lane in Greenport sometimes have just a couple feet of water remaining in them, while high pumpage at these times causes salt water to “upcone” into the wells, making them potentially unsalvageable.
“That’s the reality we’re already living with, and the consequences would be dire. The aquifer beneath Southold is at serious risk of saltwater intrusion,” he said. “Once that happens, the wells are done. You cannot flush the salt water out, and you can’t pull from deeper parts of the aquifer.”
Unlike the rest of Long Island, which has three aquifers that are capable of supplying groundwater, the only significant aquifer on the North Fork is the fragile Upper Glacial Aquifer.
Mr. Szabo said the Water Authority has invested “hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising campaigns to stress the urgency of the situation,” but has “only seen a small change in behavior” as a result.
“Conservation alone will not solve the problem,” he said. “Every gallon we draw puts the long-term health of the North Fork aquifer at risk.”
The Suffolk County Water Authority has also extended the deadline for comment on its proposed North Fork Pipeline, this time to Monday, Aug. 4 at 5 p.m. A Water Authority spokesperson said Friday the agency “wanted to ensure that there was adequate time for anyone who wanted to comment to do so. We want this review to be as thorough as possible.”
Comments can be made online here.
At the public hearing, North Fork Environmental Council Southold Land Use Coordinator Anne Murray read letters from two rising seniors at Mattituck High School, who spent their junior year working on a public education project about the risks to groundwater in Southold. The students, Zoe King and Ryan Harned, gave a presentation on their findings to the town’s Water Advisory Committee at its July 10 meeting.
“I’m especially excited about the idea of implementing smart irrigation systems. I think they’re a great way to conserve water in a practical, measurable way, and they show how technology can work with nature instead of against it,” said Ms. King. “I also love that this solution helps people keep their lawns and gardens healthy without wasting water — it feels like something that could make a real difference if more people adopted it.”
“Many of us in Southold Town take great pride in using irrigation systems to keep our properties looking the best they can, but we have to consider what this is doing to the water, which is a precious resource,” added Mr. Harned, adding that he thinks odd/even watering schedules are “a novel and interesting idea, and he feels “smart sensors would be a huge help.”
Water Advisory Committee member Caroline Yates said she was pleased to see the town again included odd/even watering in the legislation.
“I think it will provide a very good metric for the town, moving forward, to determine how well the legislation is working,” she said. “It will reduce water usage during critical times of the day by up to 50 percent. I encourage the town to consider amending it in the future to include a clause requiring no watering between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. That’s a period of the day when evapotranspiration takes up most of the water, and it does not get to the plants. That also is a policy used by the Suffolk County Water Authority. I think incorporating that into the legislation at a future time would mirror SCWA policy and would be easy enough for residents to follow as well.”
Linda Goldsmith of East Marion asked the board how much further government would reach into peoples’ lives, and if it would next consider asking people to turn their thermostats down because oil is in short supply.
Town Supervisor Al Krupski said the law focused on automatic irrigation because the systems are programmed to operate a certain way, and then “people don’t think about it” afterward,” and simple conservation methods could be easily programmed into an automated unit.
Resident Carroll Bogert asked the Town Board if it had considered stronger restrictions, for uses like swimming pools and hotels.
“This is the first step,” said Town Supervisor Al Krupski, adding that two water studies, by the Orient Association and the U.S. Geological Survey, may dictate the town’s direction on water legislation going forward.
“Education is the biggest thing you can do,” said Mr. Stevenson, the farmer from Orient. “I haven’t found anyone who wants to be proud of wasting as much water as they can.”
Agricultural operations, residential food gardens, nurseries and garden centers are exempt from the law.
It requires that new automatic irrigation systems be installed with weather-based irrigation controllers that prevent irrigation after 1/2 inch of rainfall, and that after a 1/2 inch of rainfall they do not operate for two days.
For existing irrigation systems, it requires that rain sensors or smart controllers be installed within three years.
The proposal also prohibits irrigation systems from watering “paved areas or areas not requiring irrigation,” and allows the Town Board to prevent irrigation “during a period of extreme drought where the danger to Southold Town’s Sole Source Aquifer is most significant.”
People who water their lawns while the town has prohibited irrigation due to drought could be fined up to $1,000 per violation. The drought provision does not apply to the activities exempted above.
The legislation would be enforced by the town’s code enforcement officers, ordinance inspectors and code enforcement officers, who would first issued a notice of non-compliance and a warning, giving property owners 30 days to comply. After that 30-day period, those issued violations and convicted could be fined up to $1,000 per violation, or $2,500 for a second or subsequent conviction within five years.
The text of the proposed local law, without the addition regarding providing proof of compliance with the law to homeowners, is on page 11 of the July 22 Town Board meeting agenda currently posted online. The legislation was amended to include that section prior to the vote.
Keep Independent News on the East End
The Beacon is able to provide all of our content online free of charge thanks to support from our readers. Be a vital part of keeping our community informed!
Advertisement
