Irrigation Legislation on Tap to Protect Drinking Water Supply

We’ve all seen it: a neighbor’s automatic sprinklers running during a pouring rain; On an island that depends on an underground aquifer for its drinking water, wasting our limited supply on unnecessary irrigation is not a good practice.

In an effort to protect this precious resource, Suffolk Legislator Al Krupski has introduced a bill requiring sensors on irrigation systems that will shut off sprinklers when it’s raining. A long-time farmer whose family has tilled the soil on the North Fork for generations, Krupski is vastly familiar with water conservation, and is drafting the requirements in conjunction with water suppliers and irrigation interests.

“When you get a heavy rain and people are still irrigating their lawn, that’s really a waste of a vital resource,” Krupski said. “The water providers are pumping this water from wells, they're treating the water to drinkable standards, and then it's running down the street. People should be able to use the water, but they shouldn't be wasting it.”

According to Michael Dwyer, president of the Irrigation Association of New York, which supports Krupski’s bill, advances in irrigation control systems can allow a homeowner to save about 30% of the water used for lawn and garden sprinkling. Computerized systems using sensors can be as simple as shutting off an irrigation system when it's raining or EvapoTranspiration controllers that take into consideration ground moisture, weather reports and other data to manage water usage.

“All of the drought states have been using this technology for three or four years now, and we’re in the 2nd and 3rd generation with a lot of this stuff,” Dwyer said. “It's a great tool. We're trying to bring more tools into our toolbox to apply just the amount of water we need to keep a lawn and the landscape healthy.” Dwyer noted that the proper use of water will also reduce the amount of fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals applied to keep landscapes green. “The better you manage your water,” Dwyer said, “the less you have to assist Mother Nature in keeping things healthy.” Runoff from lawns has been identified as a key source of nutrients that cause harmful brown tides and other algae blooms that have plagued local waters.

“Legislation on the county level is very important, and we're fully supportive of it,” said Frank Mancini, superintendent of the Riverhead Water District, who pointed out that 70% of the potable water produced by the district is used for irrigation. “The water we supply is treated to some of the strictest drinking water standards in the nation, and it costs us a lot of money to do that. Spraying 70% of that on the ground in the summertime, which is when the majority of our pumping occurs, is not sustainable.” According to the superintendent, Riverhead will generate about three million gallons a day to serve its 35,000 customers in the winter, a number that jumps to 20 million gallons on a hot summer day. “The difference is astounding,” he said.

The Suffolk County Water Authority recently issued a list of “Water Hogs,” customers who far exceed the 130,000 gallons used annually by the average home. An estate in Southampton sucks up more than seven million gallons in public water a year, with some of its neighbors eclipsing the five million mark. Experts attribute the massive usage to landscape irrigation, along with open-loop geothermal cooling and heating systems that discharge, rather than recycle, water coming from the public main.

"Legislator Krupski has always been forward-thinking in trying to protect our aquifer. I am grateful for his leadership on the issue," said Charles Lefkowitz, chairman of the Suffolk Water Authority. "The water authority supports efforts to conserve water, not just to limit the strain on infrastructure, but also for the long-term protection of our aquifer. Smart controllers have proven to be very effective at reducing water use for lawn watering. This bill would have a meaningful effect."

Krupski indicated that his bill, which will be the subject of a hearing September 6, is a work in progress, and details about the types of systems that will be required and how restrictions will be enforced will be finalized after legislators hear from the public. “I'm curious to see what kind of input we will get at the public hearing,” the legislator said.

The need to protect the region’s water supply was recently highlighted by the Long Island Commission for Aquifer Protection, a bi-county organization formed to address issues facing the island’s solesource aquifer system. The group launched a multi-faceted messaging campaign, “Our Water, Our Lives,” to encourage water conservation this summer.

Lefkowitz noted that the water authority, one of the largest groundwater suppliers in the nation serving 1.2 million people with more than 75 billion gallons a year, offers incentives to users installing the watersaving devices. “The watersaving devices practically pay for themselves.”