Suffolk County:
Suffolk County’s Subwatersheds Wastewater Plan (SWP) is a comprehensive look at the state of the nitrogen pollution in Suffolk County. The Plan has modeled nitrogen loads from wastewater, fertilizer and atmospheric deposition at the parcel level to the groundwater. Using the model’s data, load reduction goals have been developed for all Suffolk County waterbodies. The plan’s recommendations will allow Suffolk County to target priority areas for reducing nitrogen coming from wastewater.
Nassau County:
Nassau County Subwatershed Planning is underway. When complete, the plan will help to determine how much nitrogen is entering the groundwater from different sources, e.g. wastewater, fertilizer, stormwater and atmospheric deposition. This effort is being led by Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences in partnership with the County, the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Long Island Regional Planning Council.
A Nitrogen Load Model, which is central to this work, has been completed and nitrogen loads for each of the county’s 13 subwatersheds have been calculated. The hydrodynamic modeling of the subwatersheds, which is nearing completion, will generate information that will help determine the priority level for the nitrogen present in the subwatersheds and how much nitrogen will need to be removed to achieve water quality goals. The modeling will also inform which nitrogen load reduction strategies to deploy.
