How Safe and Healthy Are the Waters of Long Island Sound?

Our community sits beautifully on the shore of Long Island Sound. As beautiful as it is, just how healthy is the water? And how safe is it? The bays and harbors of Long Island Sound, including those in our area – home to many beaches, parks and marinas – are often places where the public comes into direct contact with Sound waters. Each bay and harbor is unique and their depth, tides and tributaries (if any), all contribute to the overall health of their waters.

Thursday, March 30 at 7:00pm, Leanne Bloom with the Save the Sound organization will present the latest findings from the Long Island Sound Report Card at the Larchmont Public Library. You will learn about efforts to clean the waters as well as the shorelines of Long Island Sound, including those in Larchmont, Mamaroneck and surrounding communities.

Long Island Sound is our nation’s greatest urbanized estuary. The primary pollutant that threatens the current and future health of the Sound is excess nutrients, particularly nitrogen, entering the water from our wastewater treatment plants, septic systems, fossil fuel burning, and fertilizer use. High nitrogen loads can over fertilize coastal waters, causing the growth of excess seaweed and phytoplankton. Oxygen is consumed as these plant-like organisms and the animals that feed on them die, and decompose; in some cases causing a perilous low oxygen condition, called “hypoxia.” High nutrient levels can lead to fish die-offs, harmful algae blooms, loss of coastal marshes, and increased ocean acidification, which is harmful to shellfish.

In response to the threat from excess nutrients, over the past decade communities around the Sound have made a substantial investment in nutrient removal technology at wastewater plants in New York and Connecticut, as well as an investment in tracking the response in the Sound through water quality monitoring. The good news is that this investment appears to be working. Dissolved oxygen levels have generally improved in the western Sound over the past decade, but there is still work to be done.

This program will provide information about what is being done to clean up The Sound and how you can help.

The mission of Connecticut Fund for the Environment and its program Save the Sound is to protect and improve the land, air, and water of Connecticut and Long Island Sound. The organization uses legal and scientific expertise to bring people together to achieve results that benefit our environment for current and future generations. Connecticut Fund for the Environment and Save the Sound are tax exempt under Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.