Long Islanders asked to cut back on watering lawns

As temperatures rise across Long Island, public water officials are asking homeowners to cut back on watering their lawns to avoid overwhelming the supply systems.

Experts say water demands rival those that occurred during a 2002 drought, when parts of the Island imposed restrictions on lawn irrigation. Demand is reported to be running especially high in East Hampton, Southampton and Southold, where an influx of summer residents has sprinklers working overtime.

"The hot weather is really driving up demand," said Dennis Kelleher, public relations chairman for the Long Island Water Conference, representing more than 50 water suppliers across the region. "We're in the 90s, we haven't had rain for two or three weeks, and people love watering their lawns."

Many suppliers, including public water districts and private companies, report pumping record amounts over the past several days.

Across the Island, Kelleher estimates, about 1.6 billion gallons are pumped on a peak summer day - four times the volume typically dispensed on a typical winter day.

Not that the Island faces an actual water shortage - there's still plenty underground, experts say. The problem, they say, is that water pumps must strain to keep up with demand during peak periods of use.

On Sunday, the Water Conference requested that homeowners limit lawn sprinkling to every other day, rather than daily - at least until the next big rainfall. The Islandwide group also asked that homeowners consider watering only during nonpeak periods.

A similar distress call was issued Sunday by the Suffolk County Water Authority, which asked East End customers to conserve. The authority appealed to homeowners to switch from daily sprinkling to an odd- or even-day schedule, based on home numbers.