Riverhead Water District

A community information meeting on the status of a public water extension to serve homes in the Manorville area will take place on Wednesday, March 22 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Manorville Fire Department, according to an announcement by the water authority.

Riverhead’s proposed water conservation law will be revised after some residents on Tuesday said the law was too strict and did not take into account certain irrigation needs not satisfied by the every-other-day watering schedule mandated by the law.

Aiming to conserve water during times of peak demand, Riverhead is considering a local law to restrict water use for watering lawns, washing cars and filling pools based on street address numbers. The proposed law would also ban watering lawns while it's raining.

Under Riverhead Water District’s new two-tier rate structure, which took effect Jan. 1, water district customers pay more per thousand gallons of water used if they exceed a certain threshold. Thresholds are set according to a customer’s meter size.

Congress is expected to pass a spending package this week that includes $2 million for public water extensions for homes in Riverhead serviced by private water wells contaminated by harmful chemicals.

Clean water activist Adrienne Esposito organized a press conference in Manorville today, where residents gathered to demand state officials provide funding for public water in a remote area of Manorville where private wells are contaminated with toxic chemicals.

Calverton and Manorville residents will rally Wednesday for clean water, after a request for funding for a public water hookup was denied by the state. “The Thanksgiving menu for Calverton is turkey, stuffing, gravy and a side helping of toxic chemicals,” said Adrienne Esposito of Citizens Campaign for the Environment.

Riverhead Town will enter into an agreement with the Suffolk County Water Authority to have the authority provide public water to an area of Manorville the town water district has been unable to serve.

Residents lobbying for more than 60 homes in Manorville to be hooked up to public water pleaded with the Riverhead Town Board Tuesday to sign an inter-municipal agreement with Suffolk County Water Authority to strengthen its grant application and finally bring water to their neighborhood.

Long Island is on a drought watch due to dry weather conditions over the last few weeks, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. But the Riverhead Water District has yet to push the capacity of its system this summer.