(MINEOLA, N.Y.) - Water quality and conservation bills introduced by Nassau County Legislator Siela A. Bynoe (D - Westbury) were unanimously ratified by the full Legislature on Monday, Nov. 25.
The bills will direct the Nassau County Health Department to publish an annual report on the state of the public drinking water supply and establish a reimbursement program for homeowners who install digital “smart sprinkler” systems.
“At a moment when we are grappling with how to most effectively and efficiently remove contaminants such as 1, 4 - dioxane from our drinking water, it is essential that stakeholders work in a coordinated manner to safeguard water resources,” Legislator Bynoe said. “These bills will equip policymakers, advocates and residents with the tools they need to protect our most precious natural resource. I thank my colleagues for their unanimous support of these measures.”
Under Legislator Bynoe’s Ground Water and Public Water Supply Facts Report law, annual reports will be based on data collected by water suppliers and derived from testing water for compliance and published no later than July 31 of each year. The report is intended to provide community leaders and stakeholders essential data for implementing long-term regional water quality preservation and improvement strategies and empower them to identify and address emerging contaminants.
Under the “Smart Sprinkler” Reimbursement Program, residents who utilize at least 15,000 gallons of water per month would be eligible for partial reimbursement of the costs of installing a smart-sprinkler system. The program will be administered by the County’s Department of Health and allocated $100,000 per year. The reimbursement program does not apply to residents who are already eligible through their water supplier for financial assistance in purchasing smart sprinkler technology.
Also known as weather-based irrigation controllers or evapotranspiration (ET) controllers, smart sprinklers receive and monitor local weather data and automatically alter irrigation schedules based on such data, thereby significantly reducing the amount of water used by residential irrigation systems.
The measures will both go into effect immediately upon the signature of Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.