Professor gives presentation on the state of Long Island waters

There’s good news and bad news when it comes to water quality in the Great South Bay, according to Stony Brook University scientist Dr. Christopher Gobler.

Gobler is director of the Gobler Laboratory at Stony Brook’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, where he is a distinguished professor. He spoke Friday as part of Save the Great South Bay’s speaker series at The View restaurant, in Oakdale.

The good news, Gobler said, is there have been no brown tides or rust tides in the bay so far this year.

The bad news, however, is that low oxygen levels occurred in at least three locations in the bay during the period from July to August of this year. Those locations were in Bay Shore, Bellport and Islip, Gobler said.

Those instances of low oxygen levels were among 34 that occurred in Long Island waters during this year.

Gobler is optimistic that Suffolk County’s efforts to expand sewer systems and encourage homeowners to replace their outdated sewer systems will result in less nitrogen finding its way into groundwater and into the bay. There are an estimated 360,000 septic systems in Suffolk County.

Last November, Suffolk County voters approved by an overwhelming margin an eighth of a penny increase in the county sales tax to expand sewers and help defray the cost for homeowners to replace their septic systems with newer models. The increased sales tax is expected to raise almost $2.7 billion over the next 35 years.

Robyn Silvestre, Save the Great South Bay’s executive director, said she expects that of the 360,000 Suffolk County homes on septic systems, only about 10 percent will be hooked up to sewers. Instead, far more homes have their septic systems upgraded to new I.A. systems.

Another thing homeowners can do to reduce nitrogen pollution, Silvestre said,  is to plant “bay-friendly” yards that use more native plants that filter water that flows into the aquifer and into the Great South Bay.

Save the Great South Bay is partnering with Stony Brook University to monitor water quality in several locations, including the Forge River and Carmans River.  Save the Great South Bay expects to release its report card for water quality in those areas in 2028, Silvestre said.