Legislators to Discuss Threats to LI Drinking Water Supply

Concerns about Long Island's drinking water supply have prompted Nassau and Suffolk legislators to hold a joint conference on water security.

Suffolk Leg. William Spencer and Nassau Leg. Judi Bosworth will hold a public conference in the Suffolk Legislature Building at 6 p.m. Wednesday to discuss threats facing our water supply such as pollution, overuse, and saltwater contamination. Residents are encouraged to attend and speak.

"We are the largest population in New York State without sufficient protection and management of our water supply," Spencer wrote in an open letter. "It is critical that we do everything we can to safeguard this sensitive, essential, and vulnerable natural resource now."

Spencer said that there is no comprehensive plan or management policy to protect Long Island's aquifers and that anyone with a well permit can tap into the aquifer to remove water, which could lead to inadvertent contamination.

Nassau and Suffolk counties utilized more than 375 million gallons of groundwater per day for public, domestic, industrial, and irrigation uses, according to a 2000 study by the United States Geological Survey.

The hearing will take place at the William H. Roger Legislature Building in Hauppauge from 6-8 p.m. More information and directions are available in the attached PDF.