Filed Under: Environmental Issues | New York City | Water | Water

Long Island SoundLong Island Sound Long Island Sound is a fragile estuarine environment with thousands of species of birds, fish and mammals living in its tidal inlets. Estuaries are particularly important ecologically because of the diversity of life they support; each inlet can contain a distinct ecosystem based on the varying amounts of fresh and salt water flows and varying degrees of protection from the open waterways. Ten percent of the United States population lives within fifty miles of the Sound. The effluent of 44 municipal sewage treatment plants, surface runoff, and development associated with a six-state area place enormous stress on the Sound's waters. Other problems include beach erosion and wetlands and habitat destruction from development and storm water runoff. The Long Island Sound's water quality protection needs have reached a critical point, and many fragile habitats are being threatened. The problem is acute in the Westchester area, due to population density and geography, resulting in poor water quality in inlets that are not adequately flushed by tidal flow. Echo Bay in New Rochelle and Mamaroneck Harbor are cited as being among the locations with the worst water quality in the region. In recent years, Harbor Island Beach in Mamaroneck has often been closed for swimming due to high bacteria counts. Through the EPA Long Island Sound Study, a consortium of government, academic, land trusts, and environmental organizations from New York and Connecticut is working to protect and rehabilitate the Sound. In 1996 the group developed a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, an update of which was announced in the Long Island Sound 2003 Agreement. This document establishes targets and time frames for reducing nitrogen, toxic contaminants and pathogens, and sets goals for wetland mapping, open space acquisition and habitat restoration. The group is working on developing a stewardship initiative to promote conservation of open space while improving access to the Sound. This work is partially supported by the EPA Long Island Sound Study and by a grant from the New York Community Trust.