Orangetown Awarded $75,000 From NY To Map Storm Sewer System

ORANGETOWN, NY — Orangetown will get a better handle on its storm sewers due to an influx of funding from New York State.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Monday that around $110 million was awarded to 86 projects to improve water quality across the state. The grant programs support projects that will help protect drinking water, combat contributors to harmful algal blooms, update aging water infrastructure, and improve aquatic habitats in communities statewide.

Orangetown will receive $75,000 so the town can hire an engineering firm to complete comprehensive mapping of storm sewer systems in the Hackensack River, Lower Nauraushaun Brook, and Lower Hudson River Estuary watersheds. Mapping will include all basic element data for regulated stormwater system management.

It is one of 35 projects to reduce the amount of polluted stormwater runoff entering lakes, rivers, and streams, and improve resiliency against climate impacts.

Nearly $2 million is going to those projects through the Non-Agricultural Nonpoint Source Planning and Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Mapping Grant, just one of the programs through which the $110 million in grants were administered by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Hochul said she wants to ensure all New Yorkers have access to clean water for generations to come.

"We will continue upgrading New York’s aging infrastructure and strengthening our water security — improving the quality of life and public health of communities across the state," Hochul said in the announcement.

"Governor Hochul continues to demonstrate her commitment to improving water quality, I know how important it is to her," New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said. "She recognizes that we can't sustain the health of our communities and environment without access to clean water. The grants announced today will help communities across the state safeguard our drinking water so families know they have access to something that's not a privilege, but a human right."

The NPG program funds projects that help pay for the initial planning of non-agricultural nonpoint source water quality improvement projects, such as undersized culvert replacements and green infrastructure technologies, and State permit-required storm sewer mapping in urban areas.

New York State continues to prioritize funding for projects that may help decrease the occurrence of toxic algal blooms. Nearly half of the WQIP and NPG awarded grants, totaling about $45 million, will support projects in watersheds known to have experienced HABs in the past five years and/or help implement a project identified in a DEC HABs Action Plan.

More than $90 million of the funding supports water quality improvements in Environmental Justice communities that have been disproportionately affected by environmental pollution.