Newly formed Mecox Bay Conservancy aims to improve water quality in Southampton bay

A narrow strip of beach separates the Atlantic Ocean from Mecox Bay, a nearly 1,100-acre water body known as “one of Southampton’s greatest natural assets.”

For generations, the bay between Water Mill and Bridgehampton has been a haven for fishers in search of oysters, crabs or mussels. The area supports a vast ecosystem with waterfowl like the peregrine falcon and bald eagle.

But the health of the bay has been in decline, experts say, with a byproduct of nitrogen pollution from septic systems a chief culprit.

A newly formed nonprofit called the Mecox Bay Conservancy aims to help reverse the damage, prevent further pollution and find scientific solutions to protect water quality. The nonprofit seeks to build on the efforts of governmental agencies focused on water quality programs, such as Suffolk County's Reclaim Our Water Initiative. 

Jay Schneiderman, who exited as Southampton supervisor last year after reaching the end of his term limit, recently began as the group’s executive director.

He said the nonprofit plans “to give the bay a voice.”

“Mecox is a very important body of water,” Schneiderman said in an interview, adding that some of the approximately 300 homeowners who live around the bay are “particularly interested in improving the water quality.”

Christopher Gobler, a professor at Stony Brook University's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, said he's been working in Mecox Bay at various points for more than 20 years. He conducted a comprehensive study of the bay in the early 2000s, his first examination of Mecox Bay. He said it's a "complicated watershed" that can face problems from fertilizers, runoff and septic systems. 

He said more information is needed "before effective action can be taken."

Schneiderman said the group educates homeowners by providing materials about nitrogen pollution and information about grants available to them to upgrade antiquated septic systems.

Schneiderman said the nonprofit plans to seek grant funding through federal, state and county governments as well as through the town's Community Preservation Fund, which can be used for water quality initiatives.

Gobler said he applied for a town grant through the CPF program to conduct research into Mecox Bay to help support the conservancy's mission.  

Gobler has assisted similar efforts that are underway in Southampton Village with the Lake Agawam Conservancy and in East Hampton with the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation.

Jenna Schwerzmann, chapter manager of the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation Eastern Long Island, which monitors water quality across the East End, said seeing results can take time. She said those other groups had to conduct water quality monitoring to pinpoint problems, then come up with remediation projects that require funding, and then implement them.

Water Mill resident Michael Blaustein, 58, said he supports the effort. He enjoys kayaking on the bay and finds solace in the silence and breeze while viewing wildlife. He said he feels connected to the ecosystem.

"I want it to be right for everybody who enjoys the bay," he said.

Schneiderman said he expects to work closely with the town trustees, an independently elected board tasked with overseeing town water bodies. The trustees own the bay bottomland and manage a sandbar that at various points during the year opens to connect the ocean and bay, an inlet referred to as the "cut." 

Scott Horowitz, president of the trustees, said his board welcomes the help to improve Mecox Bay.

“This is something that really requires all hands on deck,” he said.

Horowitz said homeowners upgrading to advanced wastewater treatment systems is “an excellent step.” He also said residents can look closely at fertilizers used on their property and plant native vegetation buffers.

Horowitz compared the trustees' role in the bay to an ambulance responding to an emergency, meaning the problem still requires a long-term solution.

In 2019, the trustees adopted a management plan for Mecox Bay that combined scientific research and data to "provide a blueprint" for the bay's management.

The 94-page report detailed the history of the bay, referring to it as "one of Southampton's greatest assets."

The report outlines the importance of periodic breaches at the mouth of Mecox Bay, which allows water levels to be restored closer to mean tide levels in the ocean. It also flushes contaminants and pathogens from the bay, according to the report.

The trustees actively open the inlet when needed, typically six to eight times per year, according to the report. Other times, it can happen naturally. Managing the inlet dates to pre-colonial Native American times when the Shinnecock Indian Nation reportedly dug by hand a "seapoose," which means "little river," according to the report.

Horowitz said the trustees face a "delicate balancing act" with restrictions on when the inlet can be opened due to the Endangered Species Act, which protects nesting shorebirds in the area.

Schneiderman said during summer, particularly after extended rain, the bay level starts to rise higher and higher, but the trustees are restricted from opening the cut. He said the water table starts to rise into the cesspools and starts "mixing directly in with the septic waste."

An annual water quality monitoring report released last month listed Flying Point Beach near Mecox Bay as 46% high bacteria rate.

The 2023 Eastern Long Island Blue Water Task Force Report, a collaboration between the nonprofits Surfrider Foundation Eastern Long Island, Peconic Baykeeper and Concerned Citizens of Montauk, found results consistent with prior years showing "many East End sites frequently experience high bacteria levels that exceed health standards."

Pete Topping, Peconic Baykeeper's executive director, said having an organization like the new conservancy dedicated to addressing nutrient pollution and habitation restoration in the bay “is a great step in protecting and restoring the Mecox Bay ecosystem."

By Joe Werkmeister

joe.werkmeister@newsday.com

Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.

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