Suggested Next Steps

What Should Be Done

1. Prepare local government action plans: Every town and village government should prepare a Local Water Quality Action Plan, which will identify, prioritize, and set specific timelines to protect and restore the quality of local surface and groundwater resources. To assure that Local Water Quality Action Plans produce clean water outcomes, local governments should:

a. Establish Water Quality Action Committees: Water Quality Action Committees should be created to assure that local water resource management and protection recommendation, are advanced, implemented and monitored for progress over time. 


b. Develop Watershed Improvement Districts: Local governments should consider establishing Watershed Protection Improvement Districts, either individually or in partnership with neighboring towns and villages, for the purpose of financing long-range water quality planning and improvement projects.




c. Design Inter-municipal Water Quality Agreements: Local governments should coordinate their local clean water action plans with neighboring municipalities to leverage resources, and maximize the coordination of clean water action priorities and investment.




d. Conduct Wastewater Management Assessments: Local governments should develop an inventory of current wastewater management infrastructure and a future needs assessment as a foundation for informed planning and prioritization of wastewater management improvements over time. 



2. Adopt Water-wise Land Use Requirements: Local governments should develop, adopt and apply specific clean water land use criteria and zoning code provisions to assure that land use rules and regulations consistently require the the highest level of water conservation and protection measures for every land use approval.
3. Implement Watershed Action Plans: Many communities have already drafted or completed watershed management plans to identify and develop regional approaches to reduce the impact of development and agricultural use on water quality. Moving from plan development to implementation should be a critical priority for all local governments that are committed to reducing land-based sources of pollution.


Suffolk County Actions:


1. Complete/Adopt the Suffolk County Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan: Suffolk County should complete and adopt the long overdue Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan. The plan must identify specific action items to reduce nitrogen pollution from septic waste, a rapid response plan that advances the County's priority wear protection and restoration recommendations, and a strategy for transparently evaluating specific outcomes of the plan over time.
2. Permanently Restore Clean Water Staff: Suffolk County should refill vacant staff positions and appropriately staff its Division of Environmental Quality so it can responsibly implement the recommendations of the County's Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan, and manage current wastewater and water quality monitoring and enforcement responsibilities. The County should also refocus the majority of funding from its Clean water Protection Funds (from the 477 account) to protecting regional water quality and developing incentives that will help homeowners and businesses upgrade their septic system to provided advanced nitrogen reduction treatment. 
3. Renew Suffolk County Commitment to Land Preservation: Although existing land preservation funding programs are winding down, the need for continued investment in land protection remains a significant need for the entire County. As a result, Suffolk County must develop a new and comprehensive long-term funding strategy that will provide for a continued and significant investment in land protection that has been a centerpiece of its water quality protection strategy for 25 years. 


Nassau County Actions:


1. Upgrade the Bay Park and North Shore Sewage Treatment Plants: The proper reconstruction and upgrade of the Bay Park sewage treatment plant (STP) is essential to the future water resources quality in Nassau County. In rebuilding this facility, Nassau County should assure that the plant is upgraded to tertiary treatment, and that the plant's outfall pipe is relocated from the highly constricted, poorly flushed western bays to the ocean. In addition, Nassau County should accelerate the completion of the biological nutrient removal upgrades at the Glen Cove STP (and use the surplus capacity at the Glen Cove facility to connect North Shore communities that are still using cesspools) and independent treatment facilities that operate within Nassau County. 
2. Establish a Water Resource Monitoring Program: Unlike Suffolk County, Nassau County does not have a comprehensive water resources monitoring program. In many cases, the absence of such a program prevents the county from collecting and evaluating water quality data and implementing remedial actions and programs that could reduce or remediate pollution before identified problems can spread.
3. Create and Adopt Nassau County Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan: 30% of Nassau County's households (particularly on the north shore) use residential septic systems that introduce nitrogen pollution into ground and surface waters. In addition, salt water intrusion, along with legacy and toxic contamination all exist as threats to the future water quality of Nassau County. In an effort to provide a comprehensive assessment and action initiative to dress these and other emerging water quality issues, Nassau County should develop a long-range water quality plan that identifies specific action items to reduce nitrogen pollution from septic waste, reduce salt water intrusion, remediate legacy contaminants, and address emerging water quality issues across the County. The plan should also include a rapid response program that prioritizes, and implements specific water quality restoration or protection measures to address Nassau County's most immediate water quality needs, and provides for a transparent mechanism for evaluation over time. 


New York State Actions:


1. Adopt a Long Island water Pollution Control Act: The Legislature must refine and adopt state legislation that will set enforceable ecological standards for Nitrogen, and provide for a comprehensive and enforceable clean water quality and protection plan the will be developed, overseen, and implemented by a governmental entity to improve Long Island's water management, to restore the health of our bays and harbors, and protect the long-term integrity of our drinking water.
2. Adopt a Meaningful Pesticide Use Management Plan for Long Island: The NYSDEC must complete and immediately begin to implement a Long Island Pesticide Management Plan, with measurable goals, and defined outcomes that addresses the rising rate and diversity of pesticide detections in Long Island drinking water supplies.
3. Create Financial Incentives for Change: New York State must bolster its investments in clean water by establishing financial incentives and working with local and county governments, the agricultural industry, and other clean water stakeholders to develop innovative financing mechanisms that will improve the present practices, modernize existing infrastructure, incentivize clean water innovation, and upgrade existing infrastructure to reduce the sources of pollution that are currently threatening Long Island's water resources. 

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