USGS says no cheap way to do water quality studies

Shelter Island officials concerned about water quality won’t find it easy to choose an effective way of assessing current standards and tracking future changes without dipping further into their budget to pay for necessary testing.

What the Water Advisory Committee and Town Board were hoping is they could cut down on quantity measurements and that would balance the expense of adding quality data. But a Monday meeting with representatives of the New York Water Center of the United States Geological Survey dashed such hopes.

Even if the town decides to curtail testing at seven of its 13 sites, it won’t reduce the cost a lot and the need for monthly testing is vital if trends are to be tracked, according to Supervising Hydrologist Ronald Busciolano and hydrologist Irene Fisher.

As of the contract for the 2014 fiscal year, the full cost for quantity testing at 13 wells was $18,075 of which the town paid $13,355. If the town reduced its testing to nine wells on a monthly basis and seven annually, the cost to the full cost would be $15,140 with the town’s share, $11,360.

But to get involved in quality testing, the town could be talking about a bill of $22,000.
Such a study would be establishing a baseline of such elements as nitrogen, phosphorus and other contaminants; pesticides; pharmaceuticals; and hormones. Clearly, town officials know that during the summer tourist season, there would be more problems, but just when the best time for such tests would be is something that has to be established and it might be later in the fall, Ms. Fisher said.

“What are we actually going to do about it besides freak people out?” Councilman Paul Shepherd asked about results from such tests.

Action steps can be developed based on what’s going into groundwater and surrounding waterways, Mr. Busciolano said.

For WAC member Ken Pysher, the issue is not only what’s in the water now, but how it could be affected by rising sea levels that would impact near shore wells.

A study under way by the USGS now is looking at impacts of Superstorm Sandy in terms of the contaminants that have reached wells in areas of Long Island.

“We need sewers,” she said, noting that the ongoing use of septic systems is allowing increased contaminants to reach groundwater and waterways.

The Water Advisory Committee will discuss issues at its May 11 meeting and then offer some opinions to the Town Board in an effort to guide how to best proceed. A phone call will then be scheduled with members of the WAC, the Town Board and the USGS to talk about future action.