When it comes to water quality, the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County has been a proactive New York State community for years. From adopting the Forge River Watershed Management Plan to improve water quality, native habitats, and community aesthetics to working with the Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) program to acquire land for source water protection, Brookhaven continues to prioritize providing high quality drinking water for its residents. One of the largest steps the Town has taken towards protecting and improving its drinking water quality has been participating in the Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWSP2).
Brookhaven entered the program during the first round of applications, and their early participation in tandem with other first-round communities proved foundational to DWSP2’s initial success. Since joining the program, they have made steady progress on implementing the DWSP2 plan.
In 2021, the Town received free technical assistance to prepare a DWSP2 plan to protect its source water. The plan was developed using A Framework for Creating a Drinking Water Source Protection Plan, a state prepared document that assists municipalities with developing and implementing a DWSP2 plan tailored to the community’s needs. Through the program, Brookhaven and their technical assistance (TA) provider used the Framework as a guide to write a vision statement and goals, forming a stakeholder group, identifying potential contaminant sources, developing priority issues, and implementing source water protection actions.
Since receiving state acceptance of their DWSP2 plan in 2024, Brookhaven has worked to implement several source water protection actions outlined in their DWSP2 plan and is continuing to work on priority actions.
In early 2025, DWSP2 interviewed Town of Brookhaven staff Peter Fountaine, Principal Environmental Analyst, Environmental Protection Division and Luke Ormand, Senior Environmental Analyst, Land Management Division. Both staff have led the Town of Brookhaven DWSP2 stakeholder group from the beginning and were eager to share their experience in the program.
We asked Peter and Luke a few questions about their motivations for participating in the program, implementation actions, and other opportunities that arose to protect the Town’s drinking water source as a result of participating in DWSP2.
Q: Why did your community choose to participate in DWSP2?
A: We had heard about the program from several outside partners, who initially brought it to our attention and encouraged us to apply. As you may know, Brookhaven is the largest township in NYS and we get all of our drinking water from the sole source aquifer below us. With the township supporting about half a million people, we saw DWSP2 as an opportunity to protect our drinking water source and use the planning and implementation effort as a steppingstone to other potential funding opportunities for source water-related projects.
Q: What was the most exciting/engaging part of the DWSP2 process?
A: That would have to be working with our technical assistance (TA) provider. We enjoyed working with the whole team a lot. We are a municipality that juggles several different projects at once. But with the technical assistance available [through DWSP2], we felt like we could drive the plan towards our community’s goals all the while feeling relieved that the heavy lifting would be done by the TA provider.
We did have some elected official turnover, with respect to the Supervisor and several council members. The Town also shifted from utilizing an appointed Planning Board to having the elected Town Board officials act as the Planning Board. Despite those personnel changes, our DWSP2 plan has been able to stay on track, and that’s really a testament to the plan itself and the way it documents our source water priorities in an accessible manner. With the volume of projects going on, it has been extremely helpful to avoid interruptions due to political turnover.
We are also excited for when the plan is brought to the town board for adoption which we anticipate will happen in Fall 2025 [Editor’s note: the interview was held in January 2025].
Q: Brookhaven is part of the 2024 Round 20 Award List for WQIP, Land Acquisition for Source Water Protection project type. Can you tell me a little bit about how DWSP2 influenced your decision to enter a bid for WQIP?
A: First off, the Town of Brookhaven is always actively pursuing grants. We saw DWSP2 as a way to expedite several of our other water quality projects.
We wanted to acquire the parcels in our 2024 WQIP grant to defend against future development. By protecting them in perpetuity, we were able to avoid the potential further degradation from adding a well and sanitary system to an area with little separation due to the at-capacity development level.
Another positive to come out of DWSP2 with respect to our WQIP Land Acquisition grant is collaborating with both the local health department and the water authority on the actual well draw down areas and their locations. (Editor’s note: a ‘well draw down area” is the area on the surface under which water drains towards a pumping well. These areas should be protected to prevent contamination to the groundwater). Prior to DWSP2, this was information that they [Suffolk County Department of Health Services and the Suffolk County Water Authority] held tightly.
But in order for us to make the best decisions that we can to protect these resources, we need to know that information. So, with our TA provider as an intermediary, we've been able to reconnect with the local health department and water authority and establish a partnership that will benefit everyone in the township.
Q: Let’s turn the focus toward implementation. Could you tell me a bit about the work the Town has done to implement its priority actions outlined in the DWSP2 plan?
A: We have organized several action committee meetings. We have held two meetings to date [in November and December 2024] with a third meeting coming up next month [February 2025]. We are putting together revisions for the hydrogeologic zone draft code after discussing and supplying mapping [hydrogeologic zoning is a land use planning tool that strengthens the Town’s protection of groundwater in Critical and Extended Source Water Areas]. We are pursuing an enhanced SEQR process with the county for projects that fall into critical and extended areas.
We’ve also created two informational pamphlets on best management practices [for lawn care and septic systems, respectively] as well as a general brochure available to the public detailing the DWSP2 effort.
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An excerpt of the Town of Brookhaven's trifold informational pamphlet: "Our vision: That clean water and healthy water supply sources will continue to be Brookhaven's legacy as we work together to monitor and protect our drinking water supplies, including the natural and working landscapes that replenish our aquifer."
The full pamphlet includes an overview of their water supply, a summary of their DWSP2 plan, and tips on how to stay informed of the ongoing DWSP2 effort.
Q: What advice would you give to other communities working on a DWSP2 plan or who are considering applying to the program?
A: The main piece of advice we can pass along would be to secure dedicated staff to work on the project and serve on the stakeholder group. Pete and I are happy to do it, but we were always aware of the problems that could arise if either of us left or got assigned elsewhere.
Have an active, dedicated stakeholder group to move DWSP2 planning and implementation along. It never wound up being too big of a problem for Brookhaven, but I can easily see how other communities’ DWSP2 progress could stall, especially if several other projects are happening at the same time.
The Town of Brookhaven was the first Long Island community to be accepted into DWSP2 and has been protecting their drinking water source for years through collaboration with their state-hired TA provider. Brookhaven’s pioneering work has served a dual-purpose by providing valuable insight into how DWSP2 can continue helping communities on Long Island while also implementing community-specific protection strategies.
On behalf of the entire NYS Drinking Water Source Protection team, thank you to Peter, Luke and the whole stakeholder group in Brookhaven as well as their TA provider for their dedication to DWSP2 and promoting water quality.
Hosting an event, webinar, or conference in 2025? Reach out to us at source.water@dec.ny.gov to schedule a presentation or tabling event.
Missed the previous edition? Visit the DWSP2 Newsletter Archive to stay up to date.
Have you begun the DWSP2 process? Or do you have a program or are you aware of a program relevant to source water? Send in any helpful hints or information at source.water@dec.ny.gov and we may highlight them!
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