Riverhead Town Board to vote on holding another Monroe Balancing Test hearing over SCWA’s revised pipeline route 

The Riverhead Town Board is expected to set a date on Tuesday evening for another public hearing on Sept. 1 to determine if the Suffolk County Water Authority’s revised pipeline route is exempt from local zoning and land use laws under the state’s Monroe Balancing Test. 

This vote comes as the SCWA is gearing up to present its revised plans to the public with its first two meetings taking place at SCWA’s facility in Westhampton Beach and Southold Town Recreation Center, respectively, this week.

In response to comments collected during several public scoping sessions held last year, the SCWA announced its new plan last month to send the 7.5-mile transmission line north along County Route 105 and then east beneath Main Road/State Route 25, moving it away from Sound Avenue. 

The route is one mile shorter, moves anticipated completion up from 2030 to 2028 and still bypasses the Riverhead Water District, with no connections planned within its service area. It will also now cost an estimated $25 million total — about $10 million less in construction costs than the original $35 million pipeline project price tag. 

However, even with the pipeline detour, Riverhead Town is still firm in its belief the SCWA should not be exempt from its zoning and land-use regulations. 

The SCWA still plans to construct a booster station at the intersection of Cross River Drive and State Route 25/Main Road in Aquebogue, rather than the previously proposed location at the intersection of Sound and Pier avenues. 

Town officials argue the route revision would narrow the scope of approvals needed from Riverhead, but would still require a special permit for the proposed booster station in the Rural Corridor zoning use district, along with building permits, variances and other services for the structure. 

Additionally, the overall “substantial construction” within Riverhead could potentially require road opening permits and easements, as well as review by the town’s Conservation Advisory Council, the resolution states. 

The Riverhead Town Board reiterates in its resolution for Tuesday’s meeting that it “further objects” the SCWA’s “continued attempts to circumvent” Riverhead’s authority to conduct its own Monroe Balancing Test by “improperly incorporating” the agency’s test findings in its draft environmental impact statement.

Both parties are still involved in a pending lawsuit filed by the SCWA in February to advance the pipeline project. The Riverhead Town Board voted unanimously on Oct. 7, 2025, to adopt its own Monroe Balancing Test findings, concluding that SCWA was not exempt from local zoning and land-use regulations, in its previous pipeline plan. 

Riverhead has argued that the pipeline would bypass its zoning laws and provide no direct benefit to town water district customers.

SCWA reached the opposite conclusion in its own Monroe findings, contending that it is “indisputably immune from local municipal jurisdiction,” according to court records. The authority asked a judge to annul Riverhead’s determination and prohibit the town from enforcing its zoning or land-use laws against the project.

Riverhead Town hired an outside law firm in March to assist with the case. Judge Alison Napolitano has yet to make a final ruling on this case. Counsels of both parties are due back in court in September.

In the meantime, SCWA will present the revised plan and accept public comments at three hearings this month:

• Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 6 p.m. at SCWA’s facility, 624 Old Riverhead Road, Westhampton Beach.

• Thursday, Aug. 20, at 5 p.m. at the Southold Town Recreation Center, 970 Peconic Lane, Peconic.

• Wednesday, Aug. 26, at 4:30 p.m. at the Riverhead Public Library, 330 Court St.

The draft environmental impact statement is available on SCWA’s website. The authority will accept written comments through Sept. 11 at scwa.com/nfp.