Shelter Island offers novel plan to fix flooding

The floods that damaged hundreds of low-lying homes across Long Island last month never really cleared up for dozens of homeowners on Shelter Island. Now a novel plan to fix the floods has generated debate in the East End town.

Shelter Island Supervisor James Dougherty has proposed lowering the local water table by pumping water out of the ground and into the bay waters on the island's south end, near where the ferry service connects to North Haven.

Kevin McAllister, the Peconic Baykeeper who runs a not-for-profit environmental group, said any direct pumping of water into the bay would require a thorough review by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

His major concern, he said, is that some of the water may be contaminated with sewage from cesspools that were flooded out.

He does not believe that salinity change would be a major problem, but is concerned that a major pumping effort could harm fish, frogs and other wildlife living in local ponds.

Dougherty says the town board has approved $150,000 to pay for pumping. To ease the flooding, he said the town needs to pump 49 million gallons of water off the island. It was not clear what precise impact on the water table such pumping would achieve.

Preliminary water quality tests by Shelter Island show the water does not pose a health hazard, and Dougherty is waiting for DEC permission to pump. A DEC spokesman said the agency is waiting for more information before making its decision.

The persistent floods have longtime residents scratching their heads in disbelief.

Former Town Supervisor Al Kilb, Jr. said the road in front of his house was badly flooded in 1978, and was raised 3 feet, then paved twice to add another 6 inches. That brought the lowest spot on the road - at scenic Lily Pond - about 3 feet above the little lake.

Now, that part of the road is under about a foot of water. "It's never been this bad," Kilb said, adding a recent measurement of a test well by the U.S. Geologic Survey showed the groundwater near his house is 15 inches to two feet above its historic high.

Unlike most of Long Island, where the land is relatively flat, Shelter Island is hilly and the groundwater is relatively close to the surface, Dougherty explained. It's difficult to pump water uphill to a dry spot without it running right back, either on the surface or seeping below the ground.