North Fork panel to explore threats to Long Island’s drinking water
East End residents can learn Thursday how their everyday choices affect the groundwater they drink and the surrounding creeks, bays and estuaries.
The North Fork Environmental Council will close its Summer Speaker Series with the free panel discussion, “The Water We Drink, The Water We Love,” at 6 p.m. at the Jamesport Meeting House.
The panel features Dr. Frederick Stumm, a research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, who has spent more than two decades studying Long Island’s groundwater system. He leads the USGS Long Island Groundwater Sustainability Project and has studied saltwater intrusion and the hydrogeologic framework that determines how contaminants move into drinking wells.
Joining him is Peconic Baykeeper Outreach Director Alexa Annunziata, who leads the organization’s water quality monitoring efforts.
The discussion comes as the Suffolk County Water Authority revises its plan for a pipeline to bring more public water to Southold. The authority announced a new route last month as Southold officials continued raising questions about the source aquifer’s quality and capacity, along with concerns about whether expanded public water access could fuel additional growth.
The revised plan calls for a 7.5-mile transmission line running north along County Route 105 and then east beneath Main Road. The route would bypass the Riverhead Water District and move the project’s anticipated completion from 2030 to 2028.
The original plan called for an 8.5-mile, 24-inch transmission line running from Flanders to the Southold Town line. It included a booster station near the intersection of Sound and Pier avenues.
SCWA said it revised the route in response to comments collected during several public scoping sessions held last year. The authority said the shorter route will cost about $10 million less than the original $35 million price tag.
