New TNC Website offers Solutions for Nitrogen Pollution

Excess nitrogen from wastewater and fertilizers poses serious risks to Long Island Sound and community health, but proven solutions exist.

NEW HAVEN, CT – Anyone who visits or benefits from Long Island Sound might want to also plan a different visit: to www.liswaterquality.org.

A product of several years of Nature Conservancy research into the health of Long Island Sound’s coastal waters, the site digs deeply into the problem of nitrogen pollution in the Sound and also the solutions. Launched April 25, 2018 www.liswaterequality.org was created with support from the Long Island Sound Study through the Long Island Sound Futures Fund.

“In Connecticut and New York, people have done a lot of great work to clean up the Sound, but there’s still much more to do,” said Holly Drinkuth, director of outreach and watershed projects for the Conservancy in Connecticut. “That’s particularly true in our coastal harbors and bays, which are so important for our enjoyment and economy.”

Excess nitrogen causes toxic algae blooms, fish kills and shellfish poisoning that threaten public health and undermine quality of life. In many places, nitrogen leaking from septic systems into groundwater is the single largest source of nitrogen pollution.

The site spotlights the Conservancy’s work with communities in the Saugatuck River watershed, but it doesn’t stop there. In addition to breaking down causes and impacts, it provides tips and guidance for everyone from town planners to individual homeowners.

“We might not be thinking about it when we’re flushing a toilet or applying fertilizer to a lawn, but what we’re doing on land ends up in our harbors and bays,” Drinkuth said. “We have the technology to protect Long Island Sound for us, our children and our grandchildren. We just have to use it.”