Solving the problem of increasing nitrogen loads will require action on the part of sewer regulatory authorities, local health departments, and individual businesses and homeowners along the affected waterways, says Roger Reynolds of Connecticut Fund for the Environment. He’s confident people in local communities will want to take action, as they become aware of what is at stake.

“People don’t want to live on a D or F harbor,” he says. “In Guilford, for example, we are very proud of our beaches and waterfronts, and justifiably. Once people are educated about the issues and they understand them, they will want to take action...People want clean water, especially along the shoreline. People don’t want to be swimming in algae-infested water or bacteria-infested water.”

Individuals and groups interested in finding out how they can help should consider attending the 25th annual Long Island Sound Citizen Summit on Friday, June 3 at Stony Brook University, in Stony Brook, New York. More information is available at longislandsoundstudy.net, or Google “25th Annual LIS Citizens Summit.”

Tracy Brown, from Save the Sound, says the conference will be a great opportunity both for people just getting involved, and for those who are already involved.

“The open sound is where the agencies have already been doing the sampling, but right now we don’t have a lot of data on bays and harbors. Some groups have started with that, but the efforts are not coordinated,” she says. “So we saw this need and we said, ‘Let’s get everybody together and figure out the simplest and most informative approach, so we can prioritize action on the areas having the most trouble, and learn from the areas that are doing well.’”

She said there is an increasing emphasis on nitrogen, since it’s an important indicator of ecosystem health. “If nitrogen is high, then oxygen is low, and it’s hard for fish, and shellfish, and acquatic life to survive.”

Brown says a uniform citizen study initiative for Long Island Sound will be rolled out within the next few months. Some of the sampling needed is pretty simple. For example, volunteers might be asked to collect water and take it to a nearby lab. Other volunteers might be enlisted to use a Secchi disk that, when dropped into the water, provides a measure of water quality that is easy to read and document. Volunteers who want to do something more complex might be asked to use a YSI Field Meter to measure and document dissolved oxygen, temperature, and pH. “Some studies, we’ll just have people go to the beach and take samples,” she says. “Others, it will be helpful to have people who have kayaks or boats, to reach areas that are harder to access.” The upcoming conference at Stony Brook will be a great place for people to find out more, she says, or they can contact Save the Sound directly, by going to www.ctenvironment.org/ and then to the “Contact Us” page.