Shelter Island facing the crisis of unsafe water

The Water Advisory Committee (WAC) continued its outreach to residents last Thursday — this time with a forum at the Shelter Island Library focusing on efforts to provide everyone who wants it with potable, reliable and affordable water.

WAC members Andrew Chapman and Lisa Shaw provided a thorough overview of the challenges and what it would take to reach the goals. But even with a state mandate to ensure all New Yorkers have access to potable water, they made it clear there’s no easy path to success.

“Safe water” is described as water that wouldn’t have adverse health conditions if consumed over a lifetime. Among Islanders, 87% consume well water, Mr. Chapman said. Others use bottled water because what comes from their wells isn’t potable, especially for infants and elderly residents.

Reliability depends very much on the time of year, activities of neighbors and Mother Nature. The aquifer from which the wells draw is only replenished by rain and snow, Mr. Chapman said. It’s no secret to residents that there are areas of the Island in a dry August when people may turn on the tap and nothing flows.

In other areas, there’s salt water intrusion that impacts the ability to provide potable water. And then, of course, there are contaminants such as high levels of nitrates in certain areas, particularly in the Center.

As for cost to those served by a public water system, residents should have to pay less than 3% of the income that comes to all working members in a household, Mr. Chapman said. The cost of infrastructure to bring the water from wells to provide the quality and quantity needed is expensive, and could be paid by local government and grants.

But to connect with such a system, property owners have to pay for their own hookups.

West Neck Water customers have had to absorb some of the costs to bring infrastructure up to par before the Suffolk County Water Authority, which manages its system, takes full responsibility for maintaining it. That cost is paid over 30 years with payments added to water bills. There’s still an ongoing effort to find grants to reduce the amount customers would have to pay for the work currently being done.

Ms. Shaw said the cost for West Neck Water customers is $5.50 per 1,000 gallons, without the infrastructure surcharge. There are customers in other places who pay as much as $19.19 per 1,000 gallons of water, Mr. Chapman said.

Ms. Shaw emphasized there has always been a focus on water conservation in West Neck, which was one of the main issues negotiators wanted to ensure would continue as SCWA took over management responsibilities.

LOOKING AHEAD

There’s no disagreement that there is a need to understand the engineering and financial aspects to bringing potable water to areas where well water contamination exists and, in some areas, where the supply of water is limited.

Currently, contamination in the Center is the major focal point for the Town Board, which is exploring wastewater management to avoid ongoing threats to quality, and finding ways for residents to get potable water from their taps and not from bottles, Mr. Chapman said.

The SCWA is exploring whether a “well field” can be created in town-owned land in Sachem’s Woods and water delivered through a line down Midway and Jaspa roads to serve public buildings in the Center.

There are preliminary discussions about undertaking the project if the Sachem’s Woods well will be sufficient in quantity and quality.

The potential to extend the system to homes in the Center means at least 40% of residents on a given street would have to sign on to pay for connections to that water supply. Residents in HiLo Shore and Silver Beach are carefully watching with interest as to the possibility of tapping into a safe and plentiful water supply.

Ms. Shaw noted the West Neck Water District has the ability to increase its customer base, something current customers would welcome since it would reduce their costs. 

Town Engineer Joe Finora has said, besides lowering costs to existing West Neck Water District customers, an extension of the system would give existing customers a layer of redundancy with an extra water supply at their disposal.

That could allow for more users to join the West Neck Water system, in addition to adding the public buildings as customers, Mr. Finora said.

The issue would have to be worked out between the West Neck Water District managed by SCWA and connections to privately owned areas.

Greg Nissen, who operates Mermaid Water Solutions with his wife, former Olympic sailor Amanda Clark, told the gathering he believes Shelter Island has plenty of water and this is the right time to be exploring ways to best deliver it where it’s needed.

It takes professional expertise to get away from “guess work” to determine the best way to proceed, Mr. Chapman said.

Data is being gathered to bring facts and not just anecdotal evidence to inform decision-making, Ms. Shaw said.

“Water engenders a lot of emotion,” Mr. Chapman said.

The next public forum sponsored by WAC will be held Thursday, Aug. 31 at the library and the focus will be on the Comprehensive Plan as it Relates to Ground and Surface Waters.