Brookhaven commits $850,000 to Wading River duck ponds restoration as towns advance joint effort

Brookhaven Town has committed $850,000 toward restoring the Wading River duck ponds, advancing a joint effort with Riverhead to dredge accumulated sediment, replace failing bulkheads and control polluted stormwater flowing into the ponds.

Brookhaven Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro, Brookhaven Council Member Jane Bonner and Riverhead Council Member Ken Rothwell outlined the work at a press conference at the ponds Tuesday, following funding approvals by the Brookhaven Town Board and Suffolk County Legislature last week.

The county approved a downtown revitalization grant for beautification work around the ponds. The larger restoration effort will require additional funding, including federal grants the towns are pursuing for stormwater improvements.

With an engineering contract awarded and Brookhaven’s capital funding in place, “this isn’t just theoretical anymore,” Losquadro said. 

The Brookhaven Town Board voted unanimously Oct. 22 to establish the restoration project and fund it with $850,000 in bond proceeds. Losquadro said that amount represents the town’s current estimate of its share of both engineering and capital improvements.

Engineering is expected to proceed through the winter and into the spring, he said. Once the towns approve the resulting plan, they can determine how to phase the construction work.

The project involves two interconnected, spring-fed ponds that straddle the town boundary in Wading River’s historic business district. All of the eastern pond and all but a small portion of the eastern pond lie within Brookhaven Town. The northern edge of the western pond lies within the Town of Riverhead, along with the land between the ponds and North Country Road.

That division has complicated efforts to address deteriorating conditions for years. Officials said the current partnership recognizes that restoring the ponds requires work in both towns, regardless of where the boundary falls.

Riverhead will be responsible for replacing failing bulkheading, a prerequisite to bringing in equipment to dredge the ponds, Losquadro said.

“One of the things that we identified when we looked at this project was that the existing bulkheading, which is in the town of Riverhead’s jurisdiction, was failing, and we cannot move heavy equipment here to do that dredging without replacing that bulkheading first,” he said. 

Bonner said she has advocated for improvements throughout her 18 years in office. She credited Rothwell with helping bring the towns together.

“But it really took a conversation with Ken because it was important to him as well to finally get Riverhead to the table to have both towns partner,” Bonner said. 

In September 2024, the Riverhead Town Board authorized the Community Development Agency and the Engineering Department to coordinate with Brookhaven on grant applications for dredging, bulkhead work and landscaping. The two towns formalized the renewed collaboration through the intermunicipal agreement approved this February.

The work builds on the engineering assessment approved in September. Riverhead appropriated $40,000 toward the M&J Engineering contract, which carries a maximum cost of $78,856. The towns are splitting the engineering cost equally.

Losquadro said engineers will examine how stormwater enters from both towns, design replacement bulkheading and take samples beneath the ponds to determine how much accumulated sediment can safely be removed.

Dredging must preserve the underlying clay layer that holds the water, he said. Removing sediment would restore depth and help address conditions that promote algae growth.

Controlling the runoff that brings sediment and pollutants into the ponds is essential to making the restoration last, officials said.

Rothwell said runoff travels downhill along Wading River Road from Route 25A before reaching the ponds. Riverhead plans to install storm drains to intercept that water along its route, he said.

Losquadro said an existing drainage outlet has a separator that removes some sediment and debris, but runoff also flows directly over the roadside into the ponds, carrying vehicle pollutants, sand and salt.

The engineering work will determine whether changes such as raising the road or creating a physical barrier between the roadway and the ponds are needed, he said.

In a phone interview Monday, Rothwell put the estimated cost of the larger project at about $3.5 million. He emphasized that the figure is not final.

Rothwell said he and Losquadro have been working with U.S. Rep. Nick LaLota’s office to identify federal grant opportunities for stormwater management. That funding remains to be secured.

The $60,000 county downtown revitalization grant, sought with the Wading River Civic Association, will support beautification work such as lighting, curbing and sidewalks, Rothwell said.

The broader goal, officials said, is to pair those visible improvements with drainage and restoration work that will protect the ponds over time.