Historic Consolidation Could Save Taxpayer Dollars, Improve Water Quality
 
(Hauppauge, NY) Today, County Executive Bellone and Deputy Presiding Officer Wayne Horsley announced that the county is in discussions with the Suffolk County Water Authority (SCWA) to administer a consolidated water and sewer district.  The discussions with the SCWA are driven by the desire to consolidate governmental entities to produce efficiencies and allow the agency with primary responsibility for providing safe drinking water to also comprehensively ensure water quality.
 
“Merging Suffolk County’s 21 sewer districts with the SCWA makes sense because there are many synergies between what the water authority does and what is needed to improve sewer infrastructure, said Bellone.  “We now need to hear from the public as we study whether this issue will make government more efficient, improve water quality and promote economic development.”
 
In addition to analyzing the consolidation, Bellone wants the plan to establish a revolving loan fund to assist residential homeowners with upgrades to their septic systems which will remove the cost barrier and make major strides to improve water quality.   He noted that this fund would be based on the successful Long Island Green Homes program he started in the Town of Babylon, which helps homeowners make energy efficiency upgrades.
 
Sewering is the key to economic development and with over 70 percent of Suffolk County using septic systems.  The lack of sewers serves as a barrier for attracting development to the county.  The consolidation of Suffolk’s 21 Sewer Districts under a new Suffolk County Water and Sewer Authority may assist in increasing sewer coverage while at the same time protecting ratepayers.
 
“We’re very early in discussions, but we’re open to the possibility that consolidating water and sewer entities could result in cost savings,” said Suffolk County Water Authority Chief Executive Officer Jeff Szabo. “However, we want to make it clear that if we were to enter into such an agreement, our water service customers would not bear the costs of sewer district customers; the two interests would be kept separate, both in terms of rates and debt obligations. Any savings achieved would be through shared services, not by having our water customers subsidize sewer customers.”
 
Over the next several weeks the Suffolk County Blue Ribbon Sewer Panel which was established earlier this year, will hold public meetings throughout the county to hear from the public about consolidating sewer districts.   Following those discussions and upon agreement for implementation, local legislative approval is needed in addition to state enabling legislation to authorize the consolidation.
 
“It makes sense to explore the possibility creating a single sewer district and having the Water Authority play a major role in that process,” said Deputy Presiding Officer Wayne Horsley. “There are already people within the water authority that are experts in many fields related to sewers. Operating our sewer districts smartly and economically and expanding those sewers as needed are the keys to economic development in Suffolk County.”
 
“Unfortunately, the quality of our drinking water and surface waters has declined over the last two decades,” said Adrienne Esposito, Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. “One reason for this decline is waste water disposal. We need to implement significant changes to stop these declines. Consolidating water resource management under one authority can lead to more focused and protective strategies for the long term sustainability and restoration water resources.  It will allow for them to be managed and protected in a more holistic manner which could provide meaningful benefits for our health and our economy. We look forward to working with the County to advance this important step.  Kudos to County Executive Bellone for understanding the value of this improvement.”