South Shore Bays Report Card: Great South Bay Word Of The Week

GREAT SOUTH BAY, NY — Many say that learning continues even after we graduate school. But with learning, comes grades.

South Shore Bays Report Card is the Save the Great South Bay's Word of the Week.

The environmental non-profit is launching the South Shore Bays Unified Water Study, a pilot program using an innovative water quality monitoring protocol.

This initiative allows groups across the South Shore to gather comparable data on the environmental health of the bays.

With various groups currently utilizing different methods for monitoring, it's challenging to make accurate comparisons of water quality across the South Shore Estuary Reserve, with bays stretching from Hempstead to Shinnecock, including the Great South Bay.

By implementing a standardized protocol, this study will provide more dependable data, enhancing our understanding of the environmental changes taking place.

Using letter grades, an easy to understand, bi-annual look at scientific water quality data, illustrating the health of the South Shore bays, from Hempstead to Shinnecock, including the Great South Bay.

This collaborative initiative, led by Save The Great South Bay, will paint a clear picture that assesses the overall effectiveness of ongoing restoration efforts over time across the South Shore bays, including expanded use of sewers and clean water septic systems.

The data collected will be then used to create the first ever South Shore Bays Report Card, illustrating the ecological health of the bays in an easy-to-understand format using simple letter grades.

“Understanding the significance of the scientific data actually is key to guiding efforts to restore and protect water quality”, says Robyn Silvestri, Executive Director of the local non-profit.

To learn more about Save the Great South Bay, visit its website here.