Southold adds lawn watering restrictions to expand conservation efforts

The Town of Southold is placing new restrictions on watering lawns to encourage conservation as the North Fork grapples with a water supply crisis.

The law, approved in a 4-1 vote Tuesday, requires new automatic sprinkler systems to be outfitted with smart controllers and rain sensors that prevent watering for two days after a half inch of rain falls.

Southold’s volunteer Water Advisory Committee has been advocating for stricter irrigation rules to reduce the strain on the sole-source aquifer as demand for water soars. The Suffolk County Water Authority, which serves about 9,500 customers in Southold Town, estimates 70% of water pumped during peak summer hours is used for landscape irrigation.

Up to 50% of that water goes to waste “due to overwatering caused by inefficient irrigation methods and systems,” according to Southold’s new code.

Councilwoman Jill Doherty voted against the measure, saying it would be difficult to enforce. “We could spend our resources working with the [landscaping] industry and really making a difference with education,” she said ahead of her vote Tuesday. “The bad actors, they’re just going to be bad actors.”

Others struck a more urgent tone.

“If we don't start here, with the changing use of water in our aquifer we’ve seen in the last 20 years, we have to do something differently in order to prevent saltwater intrusion,” Supervisor Al Krupski said. “And really lose the quality of life we have here.”

Stressed supply

Officials said Southold is a particular concern due to shallow wells and overpumping, which has caused saltwater intrusion in some areas.

The new law also bans sprinkler heads from watering paved areas and mandates an odd-even watering schedule. Under that system, properties with even numbered addresses must water on even numbered days of the month, and odd-numbered houses on odd-numbered days.

Backyard food gardens, farms, nurseries and garden centers are exempt from the rules, and the town set a three-year grace period for existing systems to comply.

The conservation law comes as the water authority issued an alert asking customers to conserve water, citing “dangerously low” levels.

The water authority is planning a $35 million pipeline to pump water from the pine barrens to Southold to keep pace with demand — a plan that’s sparked concerns about encouraging future development. Public comment on the proposal has been extended to Aug. 4, according to water authority officials.

Jeff Szabo, the SCWA’s CEO, spoke in favor of Southold’s measure at Tuesday’s hearing, saying conservation and the new pipeline are both parts of the solution.

He said most residents already water every other day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“But that’s exactly the problem,” Szabo said. “When everyone waters at once, our system cannot recover. A well enforced odd-even rule would distribute demand more evenly and help maintain pressure in our tanks and maintain enough water during those peak demand periods.”

Enforcement debated

Town officials have said enforcement would focus on voluntary compliance and education rather than through punitive fines. During periods of “extreme drought,” the law allows the town to ban irrigation on all properties and fine offenders up to $1,000 per violation.

The proposal generated debate at the hearing, with one resident saying the rules represent government overreach.

“Are we going to get to a point out here where ... you can’t have your thermostat above X degrees,” said Linda Goldsmith of East Marion. “That’s what worries me about laws like this.”

Some hope the town clamps down further, making it illegal to irrigate between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

“This is a period of the day where evaporation takes most of the water that is being laid down by irrigation, and it does not get to the plants due to evaporation,” said Caroline Yates, of Southold, a member of the water committee that worked on the legislation.

SCWA’s new water alert, Newsday previously reported, requires customers to eliminate “unnecessary” uses of water and not water lawns in that time window because of evaporation.