Protecting the Value of Home & Our LI Sound Watershed

by Elisabeth N. Radow

(April 3, 2008) Water pollution and flooding are not insurmountable, but managing these challenges in the Sound Shore will require a coordinated effort among home owners and municipalities. That was the consensus among the three experts invited to the Emelin by the Larchmont-Mamaroneck League of Women Voters on March 27 for a forum on "Protecting the Value of Your Home and Our Long Island Sound Watershed Communities: A Regional Perspective on Water Quality Management and Flood Control."

Other important “takeaways” from the forum were:

that every person can make a difference, either by communicating the urgent need for action with local representatives or by reemphasizing the role of their gardens and increasing permeable surfaces around their homes.

municipalities should look at their zoning and take steps to enforce environmentally beneficial laws already on the books.

each municipality and each homeowner has responsibility for the neighbors

The Long Island Watershed: A Multibillion Dollar "At-Risk" Asset

The evening opened with an explanation of the scope of topic: the Long Island Sound watershed, which spans 110 miles from Connecticut to Westchester on the North Shore and across Long Island on the South Shore, is home to more than 8 million people and a recreational destination for millions more. "Point" source pollution, coming from identifiable sources such as a waste water treatment plant, combines with "non-point" source pollution from storm water run-off and other unidentifiable locations to make the Sound and its surroundings a multibillion dollar "at-risk" asset.

As described in the opening discussion, "Water Knows No Boundaries in a State with Home Rule," each municipality may have the right to make decisions on land use matters within its geographic boundaries, yet water “goes with the flow,” disregarding municipal boundaries.

Who is Responsible for What?

The forum then heard from Thomas Lauro, commissioner of Westchester County's Department of Environmental Facilities, who provided a basic overview of the four Sound-side waste water treatment plants in Blind Brook, Mamaroneck, New Rochelle and Port Chester. He described the division of responsibility among the county, municipality and homeowner. The sanitary sewer lateral pipes going from a residence to the street connection is the homeowner's responsibility. Storm water flowing from the property's sump pump, foundation drains and roof leaders through the lateral sewer pipes or otherwise into the wastewater system are overly burdensome to the operation of the waste water treatment plant and in violation of law.

According to Mr. Lauro, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation estimates that upgrading the state's waste water treatment infrastructure over the next 20 years will cost $36.2 billion. The Long Island Sound watershed's portion for upgrades has been estimated to be $537 million.

Municipalities Bear the Brunt of Water Quality Act

Leonard Meyerson, deputy commissioner of Westchester County Department of Health, Division of Environmental Health, provided a basic overview of the storm water system.

Mr. Meyerson explained that federal legislation, beginning in 1972, paved the way for the Clean Water Act and, later, the Water Quality Act, which regulates non-point sources of water pollution. The legal responsibility to reduce discharge of pollutants and protect water quality falls largely to local municipalities.

According to Mr. Meyerson, ways to reduce non-point source pollution include pollutant tracking, televising sewers, local code enforcement and fixing an aged infrastructure.

A Regional Approach

Richard Franzetti, senior project engineer with Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. in White Plains, provided an overview of the feasibility study commissioned by the Long Island Sound Watershed Intermunicipal Council (LISWIC), a consortium of 12 municipalities including Larchmont and Mamaroneck that is looking into creating a regional storm water management district. The study compared a local approach to a regional approach for addressing water quality, floodplain management and funding and concluded that a regional storm water management district presented the preferred model for creating efficiencies, optimizing operations and realizing cost savings.

Mr. Meyerson returned to share a success story on the Bluebelt Program, a storm water management and flood control project on Staten Island which transformed a flood prone region into one that has been flood free, even during the 2007 Nor'easter, by reintroducing constructed wetlands. Mr. Meyerson said the positive outcome was possible because it involved one municipality; replicating it in our Long Island watershed would require a coordinated, regional approach.

To conclude the evening, the audience heard other examples of localized "green design" success stories from major American and Canadian cities which neighborhoods and homeowners could implement to improve water quality and reduce flooding in Larchmont and Mamaroneck.

Each participant went home with a pop-up sponge (a collection of absorbent, filtering cells) as a metaphor for the benefits of taking a cooperative, regional approach to protecting the value of our homes and community.

Very Next Steps: Participate in Green Week April 12-18

Anyone looking for further ideas on protecting the local environment was invited to attend free “Green Week” events from April 12-18 to learn a range of property enhancing, environmentally-beneficial practices such as installing a rain garden, planting a tree or producing an organic garden. (See: Green Week 2008 Expands on Green Theme.) Children's events are scheduled for Green Week, as well. (See Community Calendar for the daily schedule.)

Forum on LMC-TV

LMC-TV will re-air the water forum for the next four weeks (beginning April 2) every Wednesday at 10:00 pm and Thursday at 10:00 am on Channel 75; and every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 pm on Channel 77.

Elisabeth N. Radow, a member of the Larchmont-Mamaroneck League of Women Voters, organized and moderated the forum.

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