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The first issue of Sound Outlook debuted a column that asked, "How's the Water?" to report on water quality conditions and identify information sources about water quality.  That's because water quality in Long Island Sound has long been a major concern, especially as it relates to swimming and fishing.  DEP had already been asking "How's the Water" long before that June 1999 issue was released. 

But in an estuary like Long Island Sound, there is no simple "good" or "bad" answer to the question, "How's the water?"  A better response might be, "It's complicated."  But we can look at water quality monitoring data to see how the water is in the Sound now, and determine if has been better or worse in the past.

About 30 years ago, the states of Connecticut and New York took a look at the Sound from a biochemical water quality point of view.  There were growing observations of fish kills, eel grass die-offs, and tidal marsh destruction occurring in and around the Sound and people wondered if something in the water was causing these problems.  So the two states conducted an initial 3-year study [the beginnings of the Long Island Sound Study (LISS)] to look at the physical and chemical properties of water that are essential to healthy plants, animals, and people living in and around Long Island Sound.

When the waters of the Sound get too much of a good thing, they become nutrient rich.  This nutrient enrichment spurs algae to grow so fast and in such great numbers in the surface waters that aquatic animals can't eat it all.  The excess algae floating in the water blocks out the sunlight from reaching the bottom-anchored seaweeds that need sunlight in the near-shore waters to help them live.  In addition to the lack of sunlight reaching the bottom waters of the Sound, all the excess algae and fecal matter of the plankton eating the algae settle down through the bottom waters where they decay, using up the dissolved oxygen and leaving little or no DO for fish and shellfish to survive.  The "pycnocline" layer that is formed between lower density surface water and higher density water that sinks to the bottom prevents oxygen from being able to flow to bottom waters. 

This may be an over-simplified explanation of a complex system that is intricately interconnected (it's complicated, remember?).  But since most life forms need certain basic elements such as oxygen and nitrogen, hypoxia is the most likely explanation for the fish kills observed in Long Island Sound in the late 1980's and early 1990's.     

As the initial 3-year study evolved into the LISS, research conducted by the LISS partners determined that hypoxia occurs as a result of certain natural biological, chemical, and physical conditions occurring in concert, and has probably always naturally occurred in Long Island Sound.  But the LISS also found that hypoxia has worsened over time as a result of increased human activity.  Over the last 200 years, human activity has added extra nitrogen to the Sound, and DO levels in some bottom waters in the Sound today fall well below natural conditions.

In 1990, Connecticut and New York adopted a Nitrogen Reduction Strategy (NRS) and began working with the 106 municipal sewage treatment plants in the Long Island Sound watershed to reduce the amount of human-caused nitrogen compounds being discharged into the Sound.  The first step (Phase I) called for a freeze on nitrogen discharges ("No Net Increase of Nitrogen") from 33 coastal municipal sewage treatment plants (STPs).  In 1994 the LISS partners committed to Phase II of the NRS which implemented low-cost retrofits and other process modifications to reduce the nitrogen levels in the discharges at 18 of the coastal STPs.  By 1998, Phase III Actions for Hypoxia Management were adopted that established eleven management zones around the Sound and set specific nitrogen reduction targets for each of the zones.  Thus, DEP had made great strides in improving water quality before the June 1999 debut of Sound Outlook.

Sewage treatment plant discharges were found to be a major source of nutrients getting into the Sound, but nonpoint source pollution and stormwater runoff also contribute significantly to the nitrogen load.  So in 2000, Connecticut and New York developed a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Analysis which set a goal to reduce nitrogen discharges from not only point sources like STPs (known as waste load allocations) but to also reduce nonpoint source contributions (known as load allocations).  Point source loads of nitrogen were to be reduced by 60% of 1990 levels, and nonpoint source contributions of nitrogen within the Long Island Sound watershed would be reduced by 10%. 

Today, Connecticut has met its goals for point source nitrogen discharges to the Sound and New York is on track to meet their nitrogen reduction goals by 2017.  This was accomplished, in part, through the development of Connecticut's statewide Nitrogen General Permit and implemented a Nitrogen Credit Exchange program to reduce the equalized load of nitrogen to Long Island Sound.  New York chose to issue individual permits to reduce nitrogen discharges from their STPs that discharge to the Sound. 

Now the TMDL has moved into Phase IV in which Connecticut, New York, and the upper Long Island Sound watershed states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont) are being engaged to reduce nitrogen loads from nonpoint sources.  Reducing the nonpoint source load will be a bit more . . . complicated, because every one of us contributes a little bit to the problem.



So, "How's the Water?"  All things considered, the water is better!  Long Island Sound has responded positively to our collective actions, and the area and duration of hypoxia in Long Island Sound seems to be declining.  The Sound is less rich (nutrient rich, that is) and water quality is improving.  If we all do our part to control nitrogen (see the Sound Tips column for ways you can help), there will be fewer occurrences of hypoxia and a healthier Long Island Sound.    

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The first issue of Sound Outlook asked readers if they were "watershed minded" and introduced them to the innovative concept of watershed planning.  To review, a watershed is an area of land that drains, or sheds, all of its water (e.g., rain runoff, melted snow, water used to hose-down a sidewalk, etc.) to the same receiving waterbody. As that waters runs down through the watershed, it can pick-up sediment, oil, animal scat, and other polluted materials from the ground and deposit them into the receiving waterbody.
 

The idea of controlling "nonpoint source pollution" across municipal--and state--boundary lines was just taking hold in 1999, and DEP embraced the concept by launching the agency's watershed management program.  Initially, the program consolidated DEP water permitting, enforcement, resource management, and public outreach efforts on a watershed scale.  But in the 16 years since its inception, DEEP's watershed management program has evolved, working successfully within and outside of the agency to help establish and implement over 30 watershed-based plans throughout the state.  Some of these watersheds drain directly to Long Island Sound, including the Niantic River, the Quinnipiac River, and the Norwalk River, so the plans developed for those watersheds have a direct positive impact on the quality of the Sound.

However, since all of the land in Connecticut is located within the Long Island Sound watershed, plans developed for watersheds that are not directly connected to Long Island Sound (e.g., Broad Brook in East Windsor, Ellington, Somers, and Tolland) will also protect the Sound by recommending practices that will protect and improve the quality of local waterbodies and other natural resources.  Ultimately, protection of local watersheds is protection of Long Island Sound. 

Please visit the DEEP's Watershed Management website to become even more "watershed minded" and see how far we've come in our watershed planning efforts.  You may also contact Chuck Lee, supervisor of the watershed management program at 860.424.3716 for all things watershed-related.

 

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