Shelter Island Awarded $260K By Hochul For Water Quality Improvements

SHELTER ISLAND, NY — Governor Kathy Hochul recently awarded more than $225 million to water quality projects across the state — and Shelter Island received $260,000 for in-waterbody control of nutrients.

The town will install in-waterbody controls in Fresh Pond, a kettle pond replenished by groundwater and stormwater, Hochul said. The project will improve water quality from within by removing phosphorus from pond sediment using hypolimnetic withdrawal and will return treated water back to the pond, the governor said.

The funds are earmarked for 165 projects to "significantly improve water quality across the state," Hochul said.

The grants support projects that will help protect drinking water, update aging water infrastructure, reduce contributors to harmful algal blooms, and improve aquatic habitat in communities statewide. More than $197 million of the funding will support water quality improvements for environmental justice communities that may be disproportionately impacted by environmental pollution.

"Every person deserves access to clean water — which is why New York is implementing a comprehensive strategy to fund infrastructure upgrades and replacement and other generational investments that ensure the long-term protection of water bodies," Hochul said. "Focusing on environmental justice communities that have long borne the brunt of environmental pollution helps further support historically overlooked communities as we help safeguard their health for generations to come."

Through the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Water Quality Improvement Project, or WQJP, grant program, the projects will directly improve water quality or aquatic habitat, promote flood risk reduction, restoration, and enhanced flood and climate resiliency, or protect a drinking water source, the governor said.

Additional projects through the Non-Agricultural Nonpoint Source Planning and Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System Mapping Grant, or NPG, support 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, Hochul said.

The projects will reduce the amount of polluted stormwater runoff entering lakes, rivers, and streams, and improve resiliency against the impacts of climate change, she said.

The WQIP and NPG funding is part of Round XIV of the Regional Economic Development Council Initiative, Hochul said. The REDC process continues to support and empower regional stakeholders in developing strategic plans and funding priorities that meet local economic needs.

Applicants utilized the New York’s Consolidated Funding Application, the state’s single application for state resources, which includes programs for numerous agencies. It is designed to provide expedited and streamlined access to a combined pool of grant funds and tax credits from dozens of existing programs.

This round of WQIP awards were supported by the state’s Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), the Clean Water Infrastructure Act (CWIA), the Clean Water, Clean Air, Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 (Bond Act), and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Hochul said.

WQIP projects include municipal wastewater treatment upgrades, non-agricultural nonpoint source abatement and control, land acquisition projects for source water protection, salt storage construction, vacuum trucks for MS4 areas, dam safety repair, rehabilitation and dam removal, aquatic connectivity restoration, marine habitat restoration, and fish and wildlife habitat restoration and enhancement. New York State continues to prioritize funding for projects that may reduce the frequency of harmful algal blooms (HABs), the governor said.

Nearly half of the WQIP and NPG awarded grants, totaling about $102 million, will support projects in watersheds known to have experienced HABs in the past five years or help implement a project identified in a DEC HABs Action Plan; a total of $15 million will implement proper salt storage and road salt reduction best management practices, Hochul said.