Concerned Citizens of Montauk and officials of East Hampton Town’s Natural Resources Department held an “open house” at South Lake Drive in that hamlet on Friday, where they detailed efforts to restore Lake Montauk’s water quality.
Groundwater and surface water from nearby Ditch Plain flow toward the lake, and stormwater runoff is one culprit behind the impaired water quality at the beach at the end of South Lake Drive, which was traditionally used by families, particularly those with small children. Outdated septic systems in the area and poor tidal flushing are also blamed. Once the site of swimming lessons for children, the Suffolk County Health Department closed South Lake Drive as a public beach in 2005.
“One of the biggest impacts to Lake Montauk’s water quality is septic influx,” Laura Tooman, C.C.O.M.’s president, told the gathering. She and Mellissa Winslow, a senior environmental analyst in the Natural Resources Department, described the town’s incentive program to replace aging or failing septic systems with innovative alternative models that reduce nitrogen and phosphorous leaching.
Under the program, property owners can receive up to $20,000 toward a septic system replacement if the property is in the water protection district. Up to $30,000 in additional money can also be available in the form of grants from Suffolk County and New York State. “A lot of people that come through the program and get all the incentives can have their septic completely paid for,” Ms. Winslow said.
“We have been working very closely with our members and the community to try to get people to upgrade,” Ms. Tooman said, and those attending heard from and visited the adjacent lakefront property of Tom Rice and Cheryl Christman, who recently completed a septic system upgrade. Mr. Rice, who said that they had learned of the incentive program through C.C.O.M., said that the town had approved the full $20,000 incentive, with an additional $10,000 coming from the state.
Last year, the town board heard details of a proposed project to control and mitigate stormwater runoff at South Lake Drive. That project is intended to promote infiltration and natural treatment. The present parking area, made of impervious asphalt and bordered by stands of invasive species, will be reconfigured, in part with permeable pavers, which would also be used at the beach access walkway. An existing comfort station will be reconfigured and its septic system replaced with an innovative alternative model. A picnic area shaded with trees is to be added.
The project also calls for a native vegetated bioswale, a rain garden that will slow, filter, and promote percolation of groundwater before it reaches the shoreline. A dry stream bed will see a series of check dams spanning it to filter and reduce the velocity of stormwater runoff from the parking area and South Lake Drive.
In all, the revised plan would introduce 2,500 square feet of pervious infrastructure, add 6,000 square feet of vegetated area, and reduce total infrastructure by 20 percent, the board was told in December. Ms. Winslow said on Friday that it is hoped that the project will begin in the fall.
