That Sinking Feeling

One of my favorite times of year in local journalism came around last month when The Express News Group published “Water Hogs of the Hamptons.” This article included a list of the top 25 consumers of fresh water on the East End in the past year, according to the Suffolk County Water Authority. The majority of these thirsty property owners are in the Town of Southampton.

That is true for the top two hogs: Samudra Farms in Sagaponack used 14,177,293 gallons of fresh water, and Ickenham Limited soaked up 12,070,627 gallons. All of the top 25 water users on the South Fork combined drew in at least 3.2 million gallons over the last 12 months. Most homes connected to SCWA mains — like you and me — use less than 150,000 gallons per year.

In the article, reporter Michael Wright pointed out that the list “represents only homes that are connected to SCWA mains. There may well be many that suck as much or even more water out of the aquifer through private wells, but it is the superusers who are connected to the county mains that shift a substantial cost burden for their demands onto the shoulders of the other 400,000 homeowners who count on SWCA mains.”

There are several reasons to be concerned about this abuse of such a precious resource. One is sort of philosophical — what a startling illustration this is of the economic gap between the rich and the middle class. Why do these hogs use so much water? Because they can. A quarterly $100 SCWA bill might be a burden to some homeowners, but a $25,000 bill is nothing to the abusers.

There could be a safety concern. With so much water being drawn out of the system, especially during the summer, is there an adequate amount for fire protection? If there is a significant blaze during a peak-demand period, will the efforts of the SCWA be enough?

Another concern is what the indulgence of water is costing the rest of us. Wright reports, “As the demand for water has soared in recent decades, the water authority has spent tens of millions of dollars to construct giant new storage tanks and to upgrade wells and pumps to ensure that when demand is at its highest water pressure will remain strong enough to push water through mains.” Hence, such expenses must be met — again, by you and me.

And at least one more concern: The more of a burden that is placed on an underground aquifer, the more likely the land above it sinks.

Both the SCWA and the 50,000 homes and commercial properties that use private wells in the county draw water from the same aquifer. With more strain on the resource, land sinks — while, at the same time, the saltwater level around us rises.

Twice within the past year, The New York Times has done extensive research and published comprehensive articles on this topic. The first article, in September 2023, stated that “another climate crisis is unfolding, underfoot and out of view. Many of the aquifers that supply 90 percent of the nation’s water systems are being severely depleted. These declines are threatening irreversible harm to the American economy and society as a whole.”

As the statement indicates, the first article took a national view of the stress on water resources, including areas in Arizona and Kansas where “America’s life-giving resource is being exhausted, and in many cases it won’t come back.”

Hey, why should we care about Kansas? We’re fine, right? In the same Times article: “Fifteen hundred miles to the east, in New York State, overpumping is threatening drinking-water wells on Long Island, birthplace of the modern American suburb and home to working class towns as well as the Hamptons and their beachfront mansions.”

Climate change, of course, is making the situation worse across the board. It is shrinking the snowpack that feeds rivers, increasing the reliance on groundwater for essential uses — especially in agriculture, with rising temperatures resulting in unquenched crops. More heat means surface water evaporates quickly, leaving less to seep through the ground to replenish aquifers.

Rain helps, certainly, but not the downpours we can experience here, because much of the water races away to the ocean and bays before it can soak into the ground. Keep in mind, too, that it can take at least centuries for fresh rainwater to find its way to the aquifer.

Long Island is especially at risk, because we are surrounded by salt water. In coastal areas, more pumping can accelerate saltwater intrusion. At first, this tainted water is unappetizing; next, it is unhealthy.

According to The Times, “It’s a reminder that America has been slow to learn the lessons of overpumping. In the first half of the 20th century, wells in Brooklyn and Queens began to show signs of saltwater intrusion. By the middle of the century, those wells had to be shut down.”

And if you’ve been having a sinking feeling, it might not have anything to do with politics. Pumping water can cause the earth above an aquifer to slump, collapsing the space left behind by water that was removed. Once that space is lost, it can no longer hold water.

The second New York Times article on the topic, published in February, focused specifically on the East Coast. It reported that parts of Long Island are sinking over 3 centimeters per decade, which translates to close to 4 inches by 2050. That might not seem distressing, but since 1990 the average sea level has been rising 3.3 millimeters a year, and that rate is expected to accelerate.

We live on an island, and a sort of island within an island in that the South Fork is connected to the rest of Long Island by only a couple of bridges. Steadily sinking land plus relentlessly rising seawater equals more destructive storm surges and flooding.

Obviously, all this can’t be blamed on 25 selfish South Fork property owners. But it would be wise for the SCWA to put a cap on consumption before the environment mandates one.

If that happens, the ones hurt the most will be the ones who can afford it the least.