The Suffolk County Water Authority last week began outlining the scope of two major proposed water main projects on the North Fork — the first running from Flanders to Laurel, and a second, longer-term pipeline project that would stretch from East Marion to Orient.
While Riverhead officials appear to be taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the proposed pipeline there, Southold civic groups are already organizing against a planned water main into Orient.
At the first of three local “scoping” sessions — which continue this week on Tuesday night in Riverhead and Thursday night in Southold — SCWA officials solicited public comment on the environmental review process that will guide the two-phase project’s next steps.
The projects are being driven by increasing strain on the North Fork’s shallow Upper Glacial Aquifer wells, which remain vulnerable to contamination from pesticides, herbicides, and chloride, according to water authority officials. In the summer, peak demand places added pressure on the system, increasing the risk of saltwater intrusion into freshwater supplies, they said.
SCWA CEO Jeff Szabo said that the authority’s peak demand period — weekday mornings from June through September — “continues to stress the aquifer and SCWA infrastructure.
“People are using their irrigation systems and they’re getting up for work and showering and making breakfast — that’s where we see demand surge right to capacity, and we see all of our elevated storage tanks begin to drain down to, in some instances, just a couple feet.”
Szabo added that his daily morning briefings during the summer “make my heart stop a little bit. We’re most concerned about the North Fork.”
Public comment and upcoming meetings
The agency is conducting its own environmental review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and is currently preparing its environmental assessment forms as the first step in the state-mandated process.
Public comments on this early phase of the environmental review will be accepted until June 25. Aspects of the plan are outlined on the authority’s website, and comments can be registered here. Written comments can also be mailed to Joseph Pokorny, deputy CEO for operations, Suffolk County Water Authority, P.O. Box 38, 4060 Sunrise Highway, Oakdale, NY 11769, or emailed to joseph.pokorny@scwa.com.
Additional public scoping meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, June 10 at 6 p.m. at the Riverhead Free Library and Thursday, June 12 at 6 p.m. at the Peconic Lane Recreation Center.
The Suffolk County Water Authority is one of the nation’s largest groundwater suppliers, serving approximately 1.2 million residents countywide. Szabo noted last week at a sparsely-attended public meeting in Westhampton Beach that roughly 95% of SCWA’s customers are residential, while the 5% of commercial users account for 20% of total annual water use.
In 2020, SCWA implemented a tiered rate system to incentivize conservation by charging more to high-volume users. Szabo said the authority is now considering adding a third tier aimed at “super users.”
Phase One: Flanders to Laurel
The first proposed pipeline would run more than eight miles from County Road 24 in Flanders, along Cross River Drive, Northville Turnpike, and Sound Avenue to the Southold town line. It would consist of 24-inch ductile iron pipe.
Construction will primarily involve open-cut trenching and directional drilling.
“It’s not opening up an 8.5-mile trench that remains open until we’re done,” said Brendan Warner, SCWA’s Director of Construction and Maintenance. “We only open up basically the day’s work, and when the crew is gone at the end of the day, the roadways open back up … usually those sections are around 300 feet, depending on ground conditions. And that sort of operation would progress the length of the project.”
Warner said that construction would be scheduled for the off-season and avoid residential areas. The first phase of the project is estimated to cost $35 million and is fully funded by SCWA, with completion targeted for 2030.
“We’re avoiding road openings and traffic interruptions during the busy season.”
Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard said on Friday that the town has not yet taken an official stance.
“We’re waiting to ask questions,” he said. “We’re waiting for a meeting with the water authority.”
Phase Two: East Marion to Orient
The second proposed pipeline — described by Szabo as “years and years” away — would only proceed if 40% of potential customers opt in. Unlike the Riverhead project, the Southold extension would be paid for by those customers.
Szabo said the proposal is driven by a “relatively consistent but steady rise” in water use on the eastern North Fork over the past two decades and “an increase in annual accounts.”
SCWA operates 60 wells on the North Fork, serving about 9,500 customers, with a total authorized pumping capacity of 12,550 gallons per minute.
At last week’s scoping session, officials appeared to tamp down expectations for the Orient extension, displaying a slide that used bold red lettering to assert that “SCWA is NOT planning to extend water main to Orient.”
They explained that the Phase 2 extension is being included in the current environmental review “to be transparent and incorporate the possible extension in the future,” and because state SEQRA regulations prohibit segmentation of project reviews.
“The fear is not including it,” Warner said.
He also noted that “expansion into Orient would be an extension of the main for new customers,” and would only proceed if “40% of homeowners in the area” opt in.
The proposed 3.8 mile route would start near Dam Pond Bridge in East Marion, following Main Road to Tabor Road in Orient, with additional legs extending south along residential roads including Orchard, Navy, Vincent, King, Willow and Fletcher streets, Skippers Lane, Harbor River Road and Oyster Ponds Lane.
The Suffolk County Department of Health has previously detected “forever chemicals” in private wells in the Orient area.
Civic concerns and conservation push
Last week, Southold civic associations began organizing in response to the pipeline proposals, drawing more than 100 residents to a North Fork Civics meeting on Monday night.
Southold has one of the lowest densities of any town on Long Island, with less than 500 people per square mile — significantly less than regional averages — and many residents fear that a major pipeline could drive a spike in development.
Local leaders voiced skepticism over the necessity of the Southold project and urged residents to weigh in during the scoping phase.
“You are in the sweet spot right now for beginning to be involved in this … this is where you have an awful lot of power,” said Louise Harrison, a Peconic resident and conservation biologist with Save the Sound, who said she was speaking on her own behalf as a resident.
Glynis Berry, a local architect and planner and former director of the non-profit Peconic Green Growth, said at the North Fork Civics meeting last week that the town’s Comprehensive Plan estimates the potential for 4,300 new single-family homes in Southold, while permits have “mostly numbered in the 50s annually.”
She said Southold has worked to “actively reduce densities by 92%, mostly through conservation, subdivisions and the purchase of development rights.”
Town officials and environmental advocates stressed that local water conservation efforts are just beginning — and could potentially negate the need for a new pipeline.
“We haven’t even scratched the surface on water conservation efforts,” said Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski.
Town officials are finalizing a draft ordinance that would require new automatic irrigation systems to use smart weather-based controllers and mandate the retrofit of older systems with rain or soil moisture sensors within three years. A public hearing on the proposed code is scheduled for June 24.
Krupski also expressed broader concerns about the long-term implications of pipeline construction in an interview on Friday.
“There’s a lot of concern” about the proposal, he said. “It’s a public resource, so there’s a lot of concern about how water could be moved around, and the impacts [of a new pipeline] are huge. Putting the pipe in is an enormous step, and certainly, there’s a potential to spur development. So there are a lot of concerns about this.”
As part of its environmental review, SCWA identified 13 potential impact areas tied to the East Marion-to-Orient pipeline, including proximity to coastal erosion hazard zones, freshwater and tidal wetlands, and habitats for threatened or endangered plant and animal species.
