Protecting & Restoring Long Island's Peconic Bays
The Citizens' Advisory Committee Ambassador Program provides our community with resources and best management practices to help us promote estuary health.
The Citizens’ Advisory Committee Ambassador Program provides members information about the Peconic Estuary Partnership, upcoming meetings, events, and ways to get involved. Together we can educate others about the importance of healthy ecosystems, clean water and how to participate to protect the Peconic Estuary.
Everyone is welcome to attend a Citizens’ Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting and become a partner of the Peconic Estuary Partnership and a voice for your community. Click here for information on the partnership’s Citizens’ Advisory Committee.
CAC Meeting Calendar
[ai1ec cat_name=”CAC Committee” view=”agenda”]
Activities and volunteer opportunities with our local partner organizations!
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County-Events
Peconic Land Trust-Events and Activities
Group for the East End- Nature Outings
The Nature Conservancy- Events and Volunteer Opportunities
Audubon- East Quogue-Field Trips
Here are other Long Island Estuary Programs and local organizations you can get involved with!
Plant native vegetation on your property or install a rain barrel or rain garden. Check out the PEP Interactive Yard Tool to start planning your Peconic-friendly yard! This plant database helps you browse Long Island Native Plants to select for your yard.
PEP creates video segments to showcase the beauty of our estuary, educate the public about the threats our estuary endures, and provide ways the community can help keep our estuary healthy for years to come. Our videos are uploaded to our Vimeo page and posted on Facebook. We hope stakeholders and community members enjoy these videos and find them educational, helping them to lead Peconic-Friendly lives. Help PEP spread the word about what is happening in our estuary by sharing or liking our Facebook posts and PEP Talk videos. We reach and educate more people with your help!
Local Law 41-2007 prohibits lawn fertilizer application between November 1st through April 1st in Suffolk County. During this time period, lawn grass doesn’t grow and there-ore fertilizers are rendered useless. The purpose of this law is to reduce the amount of nitrogen released into our groundwater and surface water. Retailers are required to post signs near fertilizer displays notifying customers of the date restrictions. Violators, whether it be home-owners, landscapers or other parties risk fines of $1,000. Watch and share our Nitrogen Reduction video on Vimeo.
Volunteers helped assemble monofilament fishing line receptacles to be installed around the Peconic Estuary. We are now looking for all fishing line receptacles to be included on an interactive map for the recreational fishing community to utilize. Please e-mail us to inform us of where you know these receptacles are located.
CleanSweepNY is a NYSDEC environmental benefit project that provides for the environmentally safe and economic collection and disposal of unwanted or unusable pesticides, golf course chemicals, and mercury-containing devices. S.T.O.P. (Stop Throwing Out Pollutants) is a program where you can drop off your household hazardous materials for proper disposal instead of throwing them away. A list of accepted items for drop-off can be found at here.
Thousands of properties are currently served by cesspools and septic systems that will never be connected to a sewer system. Reversing degradation of water quality will depend on replacement of existing systems with new, individual Innovative and Alternative Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems (I/A OWTS). Suffolk County has devised the Septic Improvement Program consisting of both a grant and low-interest financing program as a way to assist residents to transition to systems that better protect water quality.
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