The Long Island Regional Planning Council comprises public and private sector leaders who are experienced and knowledgeable in business, environment, transportation, and planning. Its mission is to educate Long Island officials, stakeholders and residents on key issues affecting the quality of life in the region, and to propose immediate and long-term strategies and solutions.

Four student-designed Green Infrastructure projects developed to reduce nitrogen pollution runoff on school grounds have been selected as winners in the Long Island Water Quality challenge—an annual competition for middle and high school students managed by the Long Island Regional Planning Council.

The winning schools—Woodhull School on Fire Island, William Floyd High School, Smithtown East High School and Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington—will have the option to receive a grant up to $2,500 to implement their projects on school grounds.

“Each year, the Long Island Water Quality Challenge encourages students to take an active role in addressing one of our region’s most serious problems, which is nitrogen pollution in our waterways,” noted John Cameron, LIRPC chairman. “Through this program, students not only learn about the environmental impacts of nitrogen pollution, but also develop innovative, practical solutions that can be implemented on their own school grounds and serve as an educational tool for their communities.”

“DEC and our partners at the Long Island Regional Planning Council are engaging youth to help grow the next generation of environmental stewards,” NYSDEC Region 1 director Cathy Haas said. “The enthusiasm and creativity demonstrated by students through the Long Island Water Quality Challenge is inspiring and DEC is proud to support programs to deepen students’ understanding of water quality challenges and encourage creative, science-driven problem solving.”

The Long Island Nitrogen Action Plan (LINAP) is a multi-year effort to reduce the amount of nitrogen entering Long Island’s ground and surface waters. It is overseen by LIRPC, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Nassau and Suffolk counties. The program is a way to educate students on the harmful effects of excess nitrogen in Long Island’s surface and drinking waters and encourage them to develop local green infrastructure solutions. By incorporating natural processes onto school grounds, green infrastructure can play a role in improving water quality on Long Island.

Examples of Green Infrastructure include rain gardens, green roofs, rainwater collection and re-use, bioswales and the use of permeable pavement.

Nitrogen is the leading cause of water quality deterioration in Long Island’s estuaries, threatening ecosystem health as well as the region’s economic well-being. Excess nitrogen causes toxic algal blooms that lead to low oxygen conditions, fish kills, harmful algal blooms, degraded wetlands, and marine habitats.

Nitrogen also contaminates groundwater, which is the sole source of Long Island’s drinking water supply. In Nassau and Suffolk counties, excess nitrogen from aging residential septic systems, fertilizer use, stormwater runoff, and other sources have deteriorated the quality of surface and groundwater.

A panel of water quality experts across Long Island served as evaluators of the projects and awarded the grant to William Floyd High School. Students proposed installing 15 rain barrels at key locations across 45,000 square feet of rooftop to capture runoff and prevent nitrogen from entering the waterways.

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