Groundwater Quality Monitoring

Well Selection Information for Homeowners and PWS Personnel

Collecting groundwater samples from a typical homeowner well...

Long Island, the eastern-most part of New York State, extends east-northeastward roughly parallel to the Connecticut coastline. It is bounded on the north by Long Island Sound, on the east and south by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the west by New York Bay and the East River. Long Island is joined to the mainland specifically, to the Borough of the Bronx, which is one of the five boroughs of New York...

The present landforms of Long Island are the result of many geologic processes, some of which began many millions of years ago and some of which began only recently. Most of the major features of the present-day topography, however, are related to the last glaciation, which ended approximately 22,000 years ago.

About 7.56 million people lived on Long Island in 2010. Of these, about 2.50 million are in Kings County, 2.23 million in Queens County, 1.34 million in Nassau County, and 1.49 million in Suffolk County.

On Long Island, land use includes the human activities and management practices for which land is used. Land cover is a mosaic of developed, forest, agriculture, and wetlands areas. Both land use and land cover are usually discussed in similar environments. The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) serves as the definitive LANDSAT-based, 30-meter resolution, land cover database for the Nation. NLCD...

Long Island is surrounded by an almost limitless amount of saltwater in the Atlantic Ocean, in the Long Island Sound, and in the many bays bordering Long Island. Although the salty water is important to the economy of the area and is of significant recreational value, this website is mainly concerned with the fresh water of Long Island, which from many standpoints, is even more important than the...

Long Island’s aquifer system consists of a seaward-dipping wedge of mostly unconsolidated stratified sediments comprised of sand, gravel, silt and clay.

A collection of studies that focused on the quality of groundwater and surface water, are presented in this section. The reports associated with these areas of water quality concerns are linked as an online source for further reading.

Groundwater is among the Nation's most important natural resources. Nationwide it provides half of our drinking water and is essential to the vitality of agriculture and industry, as well as to the health of rivers, wetlands, and estuaries throughout the country. On Long Island groundwater is the sole source of fresh water for over 2.6 million people.

Throughout the State of the Aquifer System, Long Island, New York web pages, there are several hyperlinks which launch interactive maps, animations, and other tools. These resources are compiled here for your convenience and perusal.

Hydrogeologic characterization of the basal sand and gravel aquifer in the Hoosic River valley in Hoosick Falls, New York is important for determination of sources, extent, and future migration of PFOA groundwater contamination; evaluation of potential remedial actions; and appraisal of alternative groundwater supplies. Variations in the current pumping stresses and a planned 72-hour aquifer t