August is National Water Quality Month! Chances are, if you’re an avid peruser of this website and reader of this blog, then you’re well aware that we at the Long Island Pine Barrens Society are all in on water quality. And why shouldn’t we be? Think about all the times you use tap water throughout the day. You wet your toothbrush in the morning and night; you use it to cook, and rinse your dishes after you’ve finished eating; you take a shower each day (we hope you do, anyway), all totaling to an average of 50 gallons used per person each day1 – that’s a lot of water! Possibly too much, but that’s a discussion for another day. The point is, we all depend on water for numerous daily tasks – to say nothing of the fact that we drink it! So, water quality is an important issue. But what does it have to do with preserving the Pine Barrens? Well, there are a few ways to look at this.
- The Rivers
Long Island possesses two major rivers: the Carmans, which runs north to south and flows into the Great South Bay, and the Peconic, which runs west to east and is the beginning of our island’s iconic fork shape. Both rivers interact with the Pine Barrens, with the Peconic piercing the easternmost edge of the ecosystem and the Carmans cutting right through the heart of it. Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge, one of the most famous and beloved Pine Barrens parks, is situated entirely around the southern Carmans River. Long Island’s rivers represent its diverse ecosystems, and so any contamination of them would have wide reaching ecological and economic consequences. Nitrogenous fertilizers, for example, can trigger the appearance of harmful algal blooms. These lead to the widespread contamination of shellfish like clams, oysters, and mussels, as being filter feeders, these primarily consume algae. When harmful algal blooms occur, it leads to the contamination of filter feeders, rendering them inedible, thus causing the fishing industry to crash. Shinnecock Bay, for example, could not sustain a fishing industry for many years due to highly contaminated water, and only recently has the fishing industry been allowed to resume thanks to restoration efforts.
Several Best of the Rest properties are focused on preserving properties situated around both the Carmans and Peconic rivers, some of which have already been protected. The more that untouched land surrounds the rivers, the less likely it is that they will become contaminated, as the preserved land serves as a buffer between the water and human development. Were the full initiative preserved, the health of Long Island’s rivers, and by extension, the rest of its environment, would be more thoroughly safeguarded.
- The Aquifer
Have you ever sat around, stared at your faucet for far longer than anyone ought to, and wondered, “where does all that water come from?” Well, even if you haven’t, it’s an interesting question to ask. The answer changes depending on where in the world you live, but here in Suffolk County the answer is: the ground! The water that comes out of all our faucets is pumped up from a freshwater aquifer system (often referred to simply as “the aquifer”) that lies beneath the surface of our island, with different aquifers sourcing the water for the eastern and western parts of Suffolk County2. A vast stretch of the aquifer is specifically located beneath the Pine Barrens, and the natural purity of that landscape ensures that the aquifer itself remains pure.
But why is the water so pure? Well, it’s simple. The Pine Barrens get their name because of their “barren” soil. By this it is meant that the soil is rocky and aerated – very poor material for agriculture, which is why the area was never deforested. As water seeps into this barren soil and travels down to the aquifer, the porous soil acts as a filter, catching the particulate matter contained in the water. Thus, the water that settles in the aquifer is remarkably pure.
All of this is to say that if there is an increased amount of any given contaminant on the surface – such as from illegal dumping, or from runoff caused by nearby human developments – then that excess contamination is absorbed by precipitation as it is absorbed into the soil. The more heavily contaminated a given drop of water is, the more contaminants there are to be filtered out as the water seeps into the soil. If the same amount of contaminants are filtered out, but there’s more per drop of water, then more contaminants will enter the aquifer, contaminating it. While the Suffolk County Water Authority tests and filters the water further before selling it to consumers, that process costs money, and so an increasingly contaminated aquifer will result in higher and higher water bills. By preserving more of the Pine Barrens, and specifically by filling in many of the gaps in the existing preserve, a buffer is again created – this time between human development and the underground aquifer. This buffer will stave off potential contamination, keeping the aquifer pure and water bills low.
One of the core goals of The Best of the Rest initiative is to protect and preserve Long Island’s water quality. Herein, we’ve given just a brief explanation as to how the initiative accomplishes this. The more land that is protected, the greater the buffer that exists between the Pine Barrens core (and the aquifer that resides beneath it), and developed areas. The relationship between the aquifer and surface water is too complex a topic for the scope of this blog post, but the truth is that they are all one massive system. This system is what contributes to both Long Island’s vibrant, diverse ecology and our pure, clean drinking water. No matter what aspect of Island life you care most about, there is every reason to advocate for clean water and, by extension, the complete preservation of the Pine Barrens.
If you’d like to support The Best of the Rest initiative, please consider donating to the Long Island Pine Barrens Society: https://www.pinebarrens.org/contribute/
Sources:
- https://dec.ny.gov/environmental-protection/water/water-quantity/water-use-conservation
- https://www.scwa.com/faq/
By Travis Cutter, Long Island Pine Barrens Society
