Overpumping water for Long Island lawns is an Islandwide issue

A long-overdue spotlight is now being shone on high-volume water users on Long Island. Though the focus now is mostly on the Hamptons, it’s crucial that all Long Islanders better understand that our groundwater supply is not an unlimited resource.

The world is currently experiencing some of the hottest temperatures in recorded history. Climate change is an existential threat with many impacts to groundwater, including sea level rise, drought, and the depletion of the aquifer systems due to overpumping. PFAS chemicals and other contaminants of emerging concern are being detected at higher levels in drinking water virtually everywhere in the United States, including Long Island. Treatment for PFAS and other emerging contaminants is causing the price of water to climb faster than we have ever seen.

Most of the United States is conserving water, but Long Island is a major exception. Long Island residents use more water per person than virtually anywhere in the country. Among mid-Atlantic states from New York to North Carolina, Long Island has the highest use at more than 175 million gallons per day; our neighbors are all less than 100 MGD, according to the United States Geological Survey. The Environmental Protection Agency says the average person nationwide used 82 gallons per day; on LI, it's 140.

Most of this excessive use is due to inefficient irrigation of lawns and gardens. This over-pumping first harms coastal communities like Long Beach, Great Neck, Port Washington, Roslyn, Bayville, parts of the North Fork, and most of Queens, whose water supplies face the threat of saltwater intrusion. But it's an Islandwide issue. We all receive water from one single-source aquifer. Over-pumping affects every one of us, regardless of where on Long Island it takes place.

Gov. Kathy Hochul is currently on an Environmental Bond listening tour, visiting Long Island on Aug. 24. Long Island's groundwater supply must be a high priority for funds from the state Environmental Bond Act, a $4.2 billion measure approved overwhelmingly by voters last year. We need funding to help subsidize grants for smart sprinkler systems that can cut back water usage significantly, sustainable landscaping, software to help residents detect leaks and track water use from their smartphones, retrofits of outdated water fixtures and, most importantly, water demand challenges to pilot innovations in water reuse. These target categories such as golf courses or hospitals, challenging stakeholders to devise strategies to reduce water by a certain percentage.

With priority funding, water suppliers can work collaboratively with all levels of government to address findings of the USGS's Groundwater Sustainability Study of Long Island's aquifer system, expected to show which areas face the most stress on their water supply.

In the Port Washington Water District, we have mandatory irrigation guidelines, including an odd-even watering schedule and no watering between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. We believe in education and coaching, and reserve fines only for those who continue to break guidelines after five warnings. Violators receive information on how they can change their watering habits. From 227 warnings last year, we only had 12 repeaters. Collaborating with ReWild Long Island, we also encourage residents to beautify their homes with native plants whose deep root systems require less water.

It will take an Islandwide effort to change our local lawn culture. From the average homeowner all the way up to our governor, all of us must work together to make a healthier, safer water supply a reality to protect not only ourselves, but future generations of Long Islanders as well.

This guest essay reflects the views of Mindy Germain, a commissioner in the Port Washington Water District.