Long Island Watershed Program Initiatives

Nitrogen is the leading cause of water quality impairment on Long Island. To begin addressing this issue, LINAP was created in 2015 as a Governor’s Initiative. After 10-years of success, LINAP has been absorbed by the Long Island Watershed Program, which takes a more holistic, watershed level approach to protecting Long Island’s water resources. Learn more on the LINAP webpage. 

• Some Long Island embayments have high levels of nitrogen. LINAP conducted a study to explore technologies that could increase the exchange of sea water into embayments to help reduce the accumulation of nitrogen and improve the health of the waterbody. The LINAP Embayment Water Exchange webpage has more information on the details of the study and a link to the study’s final reports.

The DEC, in partnership with the Long Island Regional Planning Council (LIRPC) and NEIWPCC, created the Long Island Garden Rewards Program. This is an opportunity for Long Island homeowners to receive up to $500 to cover the cost of stormwater runoff mitigation projects on their property. Eligible projects include rain barrels, rain gardens, and native plantings. Learn more about the program here and how to apply.

Fertilizer is the second-leading source of nitrogen for Long Island's groundwater and waterbodies, and DEC is examining measures to reduce use of fertilizer by homeowners, golf courses, the landscape industry, and agriculture. The Fertilizer Management webpage has more information on current and past progress.

While municipalities are working to address the source of nitrogen pollution across Long Island, legacy nitrogen remains in the system, impacting groundwater and embayments. Permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) may be one tool to help remediate groundwater and address legacy nitrogen, however proper siting, reactive material, and maintenance are essential. The PRB Project Roadmap is a resource for municipal officials to better understand the process of site screening, PRB design, installation, and maintenance. Read the PRB Roadmap (PDF). 

Webinars were held on September 17th and 18th providing an overview of the Roadmap. The two webinars reviewed the same content, so watching both recordings is not necessary though you are welcome to. Watch the recordings here: 

September 17th Webinar

September 18th Webinar

DEC is investigating the potential opportunity and challenges for water reuse on Long Island, as it relates to nitrogen removal and water conservation. A workgroup was created and has helped guide the creation of new resources, such as the permitting roadmap and golf course interactive map. The Water Reuse webpage has more resources and information on the current and past activities.

The Nutrient Bioextraction Initiative's goal is to improve the quality of marine waters in New York and Connecticut by removing excess nitrogen through the cultivation and harvest of seaweed and shellfish. The Initiative provides information to help decision makers with the guidelines needed to facilitate seaweed and shellfish farming and harvest operations in their coastal waters. This is a joint effort between DEC, Long Island Sound Partnership and LIRPC. The Nutrient Bioextraction Initiative webpage has more resources and information on the current and past activities.

Nitrogen Smart Communities (NSC) is a voluntary program that will assist municipalities in Nassau and Suffolk counties identify the main sources of nitrogen pollution within their municipality and take meaningful and effective actions to reduce, prevent or eliminate nitrogen pollution through a coordinated, community specific plan of action. This is a joint effort between DEC and the Long Island Regional Planning Council (LIRPC). Learn more about the program by visiting the NSC website.

Working with USGS, a solute transport model is being developed for the island to better understand legacy nitrogen within the aquifer system. The project began in the Peconic Estuary and is now being expanded to the rest of the island through funding from EPA's Long Island Sound Study. An advisory workgroup was assembled to help guide the development of potential management scenarios on the north shore. A kickoff meeting was held in October 2021 to introduce the project and a second meeting was held in February 2022 to reviewed the nitrogen sources being used in the model. In November 2022, a meeting was held to discuss ideas for future nitrogen management scenarios for the Long Island Sound watershed.

The Hempstead Bay Water Quality Monitoring Program is a collaboration between LIRPC, Hofstra University, and the Town of Hempstead Department of Conservation and Waterways. The program provides a framework for monitoring, analysis, and reporting of the water quality within the surface waters of Hempstead Bay (aka Western Bays) and its major tributaries. The monitoring program is vital to better understanding the recovery of Hempstead Bay after the removal of the South Shore Water Reclamation Facility (formerly known as Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant) effluent in 2024.

LIRPC created the Long Island Water Quality Challenge to connect students, teachers and their communities to LINAP's mission. This competition - geared to grades 6, 7, and 8 in schools in Nassau and Suffolk counties - promotes project-based learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM). The Long Island Water Quality Challenge is a great opportunity for schools to do their part to protect local water resources while improving school grounds.

Get more information about LIRPC.

The Suffolk County Subwatersheds Wastewater Plan is a comprehensive look at the state of the nitrogen pollution in Suffolk County. The Plan has modeled nitrogen loads from wastewater, fertilizer and atmospheric deposition at the parcel level to the groundwater. Using the model's data, load reduction goals have been developed for all Suffolk County waterbodies. The plan's recommendations will allow Suffolk County to target priority areas for reducing nitrogen coming from wastewater.

Conventional septic systems and cesspools do not remove nitrogen from wastewater and are the largest source of nitrogen pollution in the groundwater and waterbodies throughout Suffolk County. The Septic Improvement Program provides grants and loans to homeowners for the replacement of non-performing septic systems or cesspools with an approved Innovative/Alternative Onsite Wastewater Treatment System (I/A OWTS), which are designed to significantly reduce nitrogen pollution. The systems are tested thoroughly to ensure they will provide homeowners with technology that significantly reduces nitrogen.

Establishing a County Wastewater Management District (CWMD) in Suffolk County will provide the critical administrative and organizational structure to identify, evaluate and manage the wastewater infrastructure needed to improve groundwater and surface water quality. A study was completed to identify the various essential actions required to establish the CWMD, as well as the management structures and financing required for its operation. This includes the replacement of outdated cesspools and septic systems with I/A OWTS.

Through the Suffolk County Coastal Resiliency Initiative, previously un-sewered communities impacted by Superstorm Sandy are being sewered through multiple state and federal grant funding programs. The sewering projects included in this initiative are the Carlls River, Forge River, Connetquot River, and Patchogue River watersheds.

For more information about Suffolk County's Initiatives visit Suffolk County's Reclaim Our Water website.

Conventional septic systems and cesspools do not remove nitrogen from wastewater and are one of the largest sources of nitrogen pollution in the groundwater and waterbodies throughout Nassau County. The Nassau County Septic Environmental Program to Improve Cleanliness (S.E.P.T.I.C.) provides grant funding to eligible recipients to replace a conventional or failing septic system with an innovative and alternative onsite wastewater treatment system. Visit the program webpage for more information. 

For a program overview, view the factsheet.

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the South Shore Water Reclamation Facility (Bay Park) is undergoing $830 million worth of upgrades, made possible by FEMA. These upgrades include storm hardening measures including a berm and a flood wall designed to withstand a 500-year flood, flood gates on the north and south sides of the facility, interior pump stations to handle excess rain water that may get into the facility. Additionally, all upgrades are being designed above the 500-year storm.

The Bay Park Conveyance Project will convey treated effluent from the facility in Bay Park to the ocean outfall at the Cedar Creek Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP). The former NYC aqueduct under Sunrise Highway will be utilized, while two new 2-mile force mains will be built to bring effluent from the South Shore Water Reclamation Facility to the aqueduct and then from the aqueduct to the Cedar Creek WPCP ocean outfall pipe. The county anticipates that this project will be completed by the end of 2024.

The Long Beach Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) Consolidation Project involves converting the facility to a pump station and rerouting Long Beach sewage - up to 5 million gallons of raw sewage per day - to the newly upgraded SSWRF in Bay Park. The wastewater will then be treated with the other sewage that enters the facility before being sent to the ocean outfall at Cedar Creek WPCP. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

The Nassau County Nine Key Element Plan is an analysis of Nassau's north and south shore bays and surrounding watershed, which includes modeling the nitrogen inputs to each embayment from wastewater, fertilizer, atmospheric deposition, and storm water, modeling hydrologic residence times, and a water quality data analysis. The Plan is an update to a report published in 2020. The report is undergoing updates and stakeholder engagement before as it is being converted into a Nine Element Watershed Plan. This was a joint effort between Nassau County, Stony Brook University School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, and DEC. More information on the plan can be found on Nassau County's 9E Plan webpage.

For more information about Nassau County's Initiatives visit Nassau County's Department of Public Works or Health Department websites.