About Water Quality
Visitors who passed the green at East Hampton Town Pond on Columbus Day weekend may have been puzzled by its appearance. After an excavation that created several pools, new grass had just begun to appear, and the place almost had the look of an abandoned industrial site.
The intent of those behind the so-called bioswale project, undertaken by East Hampton Village, is good. The depressions are supposed to stop the flow of road runoff during rainstorms from reaching the pond. The pond, in turn, drains into Hook Pond, which has been environmentally compromised for years, with low levels of the oxygen necessary for aquatic life, according to a consultant’s study last year. A similar set of drain pools are being dug behind the Methodist Church to filter water that reaches the pond via the Nature Trail. The bioswales, at a cost of about $100,000, are expected to help remove pollutants.
From our standpoint, though, Hook Pond should hardly have been the first priority. Georgica Pond, which borders on the Town of East Hampton as well as the village, has far more recreational use as a site for crabbing and sailing. At one time it also supported a small commercial fish and crab harvest.
Georgica has had dangerous algae blooms in recent years. The dominant restoration effort there has come from a private group, the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation, however, rather than government. That said, East Hampton Town’s moratorium on potential pollution-causing industrial and retail development in a portion of the Georgica watershed is smart and timely.
As strange as the village bioswales might seem to visitors, residents also should take note. Voters in the East End towns are going to see a ballot proposition in November asking whether to extend the community preservation fund’s 2-percent transfer tax until 2050 and to allow up to 20 percent of its future income to go to water quality efforts. This is a feel-good measure and very likely to pass. However, the problems with the proposal are considerable, given the vague framework in the enabling state legislation and “trust-us” assurances from officials.
East Hampton’s bioswales may or may not work in the end; they certainly were not among the principal recommendations in the consultant’s 2015 study of Hook Pond. They point to a “Hey! Let’s see if this can work!” approach, which is not sound policy for the water remediation efforts that could unfold if the referendum passes next month. The future of our ponds — and drinking water — is at stake, and the public should keep a steady eye on the proposals officials come up with.