Suffolk County and Water Authority Sign Deal to Grant Land Easements for Sake of Water Quality

Suffolk County and the Suffolk County Water Authority signed a $2.6 million agreement that will grant easements on 34 parcels of land acquired under the county's Drinking Water Protection Program, it was announced by Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy and SCWA CEO Stephen Jones.

"The purpose of our Drinking Water Protection Program, heartily endorsed by the public, is to provide for clean and adequate supplies of water for future generations," Levy said in a statement. "This agreement will provide some financial relief for our taxpayers today, and protection of our most precious natural resource."

The agreement covers properties in Brookhaven, East Hampton, Islip, Riverhead and Southampton which have been acquired by Suffolk over the years under the program which permits the use of such parcels for the production and distribution of a public water supply, the statement said.

Under the agreement, Suffolk County will receive $1.2 million in cash – with $200,000 of that allocated to the Suffolk County Comprehensive Water Resource Plan – and forgiveness of a $1.4 million balance owed to the SCWA under a 2005 litigation settlement.

"The easements included in this agreement will constitute the bulk of our new drinking water facilities for the next 50 years and beyond," said Suffolk County Water Authority CEO Stephen Jones in a statement. "The cost of remediating older wells is rapidly becoming more expensive than transporting water from the new sites covered by this agreement."