Impacts The NY NEMO Program, coordinated by New York Sea Grant and focused on Long Island, served on the Steering Committee for the Suffolk County North Shore Embayments Management Plan. The plan addresses the County’s Long Island Sound bays and harbors, with a specific focus on priority sub-watersheds. Noting that, “Implementation of Phase II Storm Water Management Plans by local municipalities may have the largest impact on nitrogen management in Long Island Sound of any existing program,” the draft plan goes on to recognize NY NEMO as a resource for improving municipal reduction of nitrogen inputs to the Sound and for facilitating effective municipal Phase II compliance. |
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Spotlight On...Facilitating Cooperation in a Complex Jurisdictional Environment New York’s Long Island is characterized by beautiful beaches, bays, wetlands and harbors. It has also experienced tremendous development and population growth over the last 50 years. Contaminated stormwater on the island has resulted in restricted bathing, reduced fisheries, poor surface water quality and degraded wetlands and wildlife habitats. The vast majority of municipalities on the island are now subject to the U.S. EPA’s Stormwater Phase II regulations. New York Sea Grant (NYSG) started a NEMO program to help Long Island municipalities address nonpoint source pollution and protect natural resources. One of the challenges to stormwater management on Long Island is the many levels of municipal government. Within the Island’s two counties are 2 cities and 13 towns. In addition, within the 13 towns, there are 95 incorporated villages. Hence, NY NEMO’s stormwater management recommendations emphasize intermunicipal approaches to ensure cost effective, optimal resource protection. In doing so, the NYSG NEMO Program, while facilitating municipal Phase II compliance, has also contributed to increased efforts to leverage expenditures and to jointly address shared water quality concerns through co-implemented Phase II stormwater management programs. For example, Nassau County, which has a population of 1.3 million and a population density of 4,665 people per square mile, has now taken the lead in forming an intermunicipal stormwater coalition comprised of over 50 villages. The coalition is working to devise effective, coordinated stormwater management policies and practices. NYSG NEMO has provided support regarding model ordinance development, illicit discharge detection and elimination, municipal pollution prevention and both construction and post-construction stormwater management. Municipalities in Suffolk County are now engaged in intermunicipal management strategies as well. For example, the Town of Southhampton has formed a Phase II stormwater management partnership with its five villages. Additionally, elsewhere in Suffolk, joint runoff control efforts are underway in the Town of Huntington and in the Nissequogue River drainage basin. Such activities represent important resource protection milestones on Long Island, in that they entail a new, broader perspective—one which surpasses local jurisdictional boundaries. Through these approaches, municipalities are likely to realize more effective water quality improve- ments than could be achieved otherwise. Perhaps of equal significance is that these partnerships serve as models for replication throughout Long Island. NYSG NEMO looks forward to facilitating that important process. |