Bonds to be used for future surge in Jericho water use

After a scorching summer in which officials say their water restrictions often went ignored, the Jericho Water District plans to use a $9.9-million bond issue in part to prepare their wells for a future surge.

For almost the entire summer, some Long Island water districts - including Jericho, with 19,000 customers in Nassau County - banned lawn watering, car washing and other "nonessential" uses.

But Jericho pumped about 30 million gallons a day during July and August, compared to 17.8 million a day in July 2009 and 21.5 million a day in August 2009.

That spike led to lower water pressure in parts of the district, which covers much of northern Oyster Bay Town. District commissioner Nicholas Bartilucci says he often spotted wet curbs while driving in the morning - a telltale sign of overnight watering. Shortages often occurred during early morning hours, likely due to sprinkler systems running overnight, he said.

"We have restrictions, but in many cases they're ignored," Bartilucci said in an interview. "That's primarily why we need the bond issue."

The bonds, approved by Oyster Bay Town this month, will pay for increased capacity at three wells, at a cost of $550,000, as well as new treatment equipment at three others, for $3,550,000.

The water district also will upgrade its measurement system, for $560,000. The remaining bond money will pay for unrelated repairs at two storage tanks, officials said.

A home in the district valued at $500,000 will go from $13 to $19.52 in annual taxes next year, district superintendent Peter Logan said. The district will also raise its water rates for homes that use more than 30,000 gallons a quarter, he said.

Bartilucci pointed out that the district includes parts of villages with typically larger homes, such as Brookville, Muttontown and Laurel Hollow. "I mention that because the issue really is watering of lawns and shrubbery," he said.

Brookville Mayor Caroline Bazzini said many of her village's residents used more water due to the heat, "perhaps more consistently than they might have."

Other providers experienced similar spikes in usage. The Suffolk County Water Authority, which has 1.2 million customers, will improve 12 existing wells to increase output by about 2,000 gallons a minute, prompted mostly by usage this past summer, deputy chief executive for operations Herman Miller said."There were quite a few other water suppliers who had the same situation," said Dennis Kelleher, spokesman for the Long Island Water Conference.