New York & Western Long Island Sound
Clean and Safe? Our beaches aren't there yet.
Every summer, bacteria pollution from raw sewage forces the closing of Long Island Sound beaches. Closings have risen dramatically over the past decade, robbing coastal communities of public beach access and the economic boost of tourism dollars.
To make matters worse, oxygen levels in the waters of the western Sound drop to almost nothing at the end of the summer. This "dead zone" is a state of oxygen depletion called hypoxia. Without oxygen, the fish, lobster, crabs, and other marine animals that form the Sound's web of life must leave or die. The Sound's ecosystem and coastal economies suffer.
The most recent Long Island Sound Report Card uses data collected by scientists in 2015 to measure water quality factors and assign grades based on ecosystem health.
Explore the grades:
Save the Sound advocates for a cleaner Long Island Sound, and works to restore our beaches, rivers, and the Sound for swimming, boating, and fishing. Our work has a three-pronged approach:
Education
We work to save the Sound one backyard at a time with summer youth and family education programs, presentations to local groups, and spreading the word about our programs, sharing breaking news, and explaining public policy on our Green Cities Blue Waters blog.
Enforcement
Our Clean Water Program focuses on existing, strong clean water laws that support our vision of a healthy and vibrant Sound. The challenge is to make sure these laws are enforced, and that counties and others are held accountable for their action—or their inaction. Learn more about our work to heal the dead zone.
Save the Sound legal staff and experts are carefully following the progress of every one of the 17 sewage treatment plant systems in New York that impact the Sound's water quality. Click here to view our 2014 sewage treatment plant report tracking these plants and their current status.
We also work with scores of volunteers to sample and study water quality around the western Sound. We use our water quality monitoring data to stop contamination leaks, back up our legal cases, and support our vision.
Restoration
Save the Sound also works to restore critical habitats that have been degraded over time. Save the Sound facilitates several types of habitat restoration projects, including marsh restoration, migratory fish passage, fish counting, and vegetation planting. Read much more on our Habitat Restoration page.