Background:
Westchester County depends on its local watershed to provide clean, safe drinking water. However, the legacies of the twentieth century -- urbanization of agricultural and forested lands, suburban population increases, development in wetlands, climate change, the proliferation of toxic chemicals, and the growth of agribusiness - are placing extreme stress on the quality and quantity of the County’s water supplies. Westchester’s drinking water meets all state and federal drinking water standards, yet its supply requires treatment and monitoring to ensure safety.
Solution:
The League urges the County and municipalities to:
- Restrict development and land use in watershed areas. Implement erosion and sediment control ordinances.
- Install more technologically advanced catch basins to capture noxious chemicals and other pollutants.
- Explore measures to limit impervious surfaces. Support state efforts to implement and enforce stormwater permitting on new and existing developments.
- Find alternatives to salt or means of reducing salt usage for road safety during snowstorms. (e.g. Yorktown Heights’ de-icing system, which involves spraying streets with a salt solution before snow falls and thereby significantly reduces the total amount of salt used.)
- Adopt the County’s Model Ordinance for Wetland Protection. Implement recommendations made by the Watershed Advisory Committees and complete Watershed Management Plans for each WAC.
- Expand the Aquatic Habitat Restoration Program and continue to monitor completed projects.
- Assist in the preparation of the Comprehensive Croton System Water Quality Protection Plan and commit to implementing the plan’s recommendations.
- Construct public sewers in clearly defined watershed protection areas.
What you can do: