In a 67-page Final Scope released Monday, Dec. 1, SCWA outlined the environmental review for the two-phase, 12-mile project — which is estimated to cost $35 million for the first phase alone. The document sets the stage for a Draft Environmental Impact Statement expected by late January, SCWA communications director Daniel Dubois told Riverhead News Review.

“Following its release, we will hold public hearings to take comments,” Mr. Dubois said. “Once that process is complete, the SCWA Board will make a final determination on the project’s environmental impact.”

The move comes two months after Riverhead’s five-member Town Board voted unanimously that SCWA must comply with local land-use regulations for the 8.15-mile pipeline that would run through town but provide no water service to Riverhead residents.

SCWA conducted its own legal review, known as a Monroe Balancing Test, and reached the opposite conclusion, claiming immunity as a state-created authority.

Now Southold wants its own review of whether the pipeline project should be exempt from local regulations. During discussion at the Town Board’s Tuesday, Dec. 2, work session, officials said they would conduct a Monroe Balancing Test — a legal standard that weighs whether regional projects can override local control.

“I think it’s very important that we have that here,” Southold Councilwoman Jill Doherty said.

The town is determining when it will hold the Monroe Balancing Test, which would allow local experts and residents to voice their concerns about the project.

The pipeline is intended to bolster drinking water supplies for Southold, which the Final Scope says faces a “limited supply of potable drinking water” and local water sources “subject to saltwater intrusion.”

If approved following environmental review, construction could take four years, with the pipeline expected to be operational by 2030.

In October, the feud over the pipeline escalated when SCWA attorney Richard Finkel argued the not-for-profit agency should be immune from local regulation because “if the authority was bound by local land-use regulations in each [municipality it serves], it would be subject to the regulations of all 43 municipalities in which it operates.” 

Riverhead officials countered that the town would shoulder construction impacts — particularly along Sound Avenue, a major agricultural and tourism corridor. The pipeline would carry water from Flanders wells through Riverhead to Southold customers. 

“You design it, you approve it, and you do it and step all over Riverhead while doing it, with no benefit to us whatsoever,” Supervisor Tim Hubbard said at an October hearing. 

Riverhead Town Attorney Erik Howard said he was reviewing the pipeline Final Scope and would respond after completing his analysis when contacted by Riverhead News Review.

In October, Mr. Howard argued that Riverhead should have the authority to conduct the Monroe Balancing Test, saying the host community — not the entity seeking immunity — should determine whether local regulations apply.

Environmental planning firm Nelson Pope Voorhis prepared the Final Scope based on comments from three public scoping sessions held in June and on written comments submitted through August. The firm will now conduct the environmental analysis.

Pipeline construction plans

Phase one would run 8.15 miles from Riverside and Flanders in Southampton to the Riverhead-Southold town line in Jamesport and Laurel, supplying up to 6,000 gallons per minute to approximately 9,500 Southold customers, according to SCWA documents.

No new wells would be drilled. SCWA would draw from excess capacity in its South Shore Low Zone, according to the Final Scope. A booster station would be built on SCWA property on Pier Avenue in the Jamesport area.

The pipeline would be installed using two methods: approximately 0.63 miles by directional drilling beneath the Peconic River, the Long Island Rail Road and Main Road, with the remaining 7.52 miles installed by open-cut trenching.

The daily installation rate for trenched sections is estimated to be 300 to 400 feet per day, and up to 600 feet per day or more on long stretches within grassed shoulder areas such as along sections of Cross River Drive.

An alternate route could run north from the Flanders Road and Cross Island Drive intersection, then north to the Cross River Drive and Main Road intersection, and east along Main Road to the Franklinville Road intersection in Laurel, connecting to an existing SCWA main.

Phase two would extend existing water infrastructure 3.79 miles from East Marion to Orient. SCWA says it is not currently planning the extension and included it only to avoid “segmentation” violations under state law. No cost estimate for the second phase was available.

Southold Councilman Brian Mealy said at the Dec. 2 meeting that data from an ongoing U.S. Geological Survey study on the aquifer should be included in the pipeline environmental review.

In October, Southold Councilman Greg Doroski questioned whether SCWA was overstating the water crisis. Mr. Doroski — who won election to the county Legislature last month and will leave the Town Board in January — asked whether “the urgency created by the SCWA in moving this proposal forward is artificially created.”

Environmental review process

Throughout the environmental review, consultants will evaluate potential impacts, including land disturbance from construction, coastal habitat and wildlife effects, surface water quality, groundwater supply capacity, traffic safety, and proximity to schools and hospitals.

The Final Scope notes that “the Towns of Riverhead and Southold have raised concerns that the proposed action may induce secondary development or will be growth inducing.”

Impacts such as potential property value increases near public water are considered “out of scope for an environmental review,” according to the State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) handbook.

An analysis of how the project would affect future development at EPCAL in Calverton was also determined to be outside the review scope and is “not expected to be significantly or adversely impacted.”

SCWA and other agencies with permitting authority will be consulted on mitigation options, the Final Scope states.

The draft impact statement, beyond the review of the proposed project, potential impacts and alternative routes, will assist in SCWA’s “final determination of impact and the appropriateness of moving forward with the project.”

The Final Scope determined that water conservation programs alone, like Southold’s irrigation legislation passed in July modeled after an SCWA program, would not achieve the project’s goals of bringing potable water to the North Fork.

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At a public hearing Thursday, Oct. 9, at the Riverhead Free Library, SCWA officials presented their findings under the Monroe Balancing Test, concluding the agency has immunity from local regulation because it serves as a regional public entity. Two days earlier, the Riverhead Town Board voted unanimously to adopt its own Monroe Test results, reaching the opposite conclusion.

The dueling decisions have left the two sides deadlocked over who has final say on the estimated $35 million project, which would carry water from Flanders through Riverhead to supply customers in Southold.

“This project is indisputably for the benefit of the people of Suffolk County and the state of New York,” said Richard Finkel, attorney for SCWA, reiterating the claim he made at two previous meetings held in Westhampton and Peconic last week. “If we had to abide by the zoning laws of 43 different municipalities, it would be impossible for us to operate.”

Town officials, however, insist Riverhead, as the host community, has the right to determine how and where construction proceeds.

The proposed pipeline would run 8.15 miles from Flanders through Riverhead, supplying about 9,500 Southold customers whose existing wells are nearing capacity. SCWA says the project is critical to maintain water pressure and reliability on the North Fork, especially during summer months when irrigation demand peaks.

Mr. Finkel said the authority’s immunity claim rests on the principle that it performs “an essential governmental function.” The SCWA operates across 10 towns and nearly three dozen villages, he noted, and could not function if each municipality imposed its own zoning conditions.

“This would be untenable,” he said. “The authority’s purpose is to provide drinking water countywide — that’s a matter of public health and welfare.”

Mr. Finkel stressed the construction of the underground pipeline would cause temporary impacts on roadways, but all affected roads would be fully restored. In consideration of the community, Mr. Finkel said the SCWA will avoid road closings and traffic interruptions during the busy fall season.

He added the SCWA is “fully aware and capable” of managing construction so there is minimal damage. Mr. Finkel referenced the previous installation of 7,000 feet of water main in Riverhead and the current 20,000-foot water main extension project happening in Manorville.

Town officials say they aren’t disputing the project’s need but how it’s being handled. Riverhead leaders argue that as the “host community,” they’re entitled to review impacts on traffic, roadways, and neighborhoods within town borders — and to require compliance with local zoning codes.

Councilwoman Denise Merrifield criticized SCWA’s draft environmental documents as “void of key studies,” including traffic and infrastructure impacts. “This project does not benefit any residents in the town of Riverhead.”

Riverhead Town officials have disputed SCWA’s attempt to “circumvent” Riverhead’s authority to conduct its own Monroe Balancing Test by suggesting the agency’s test findings will be included in its draft environmental impact statement.

The Monroe Balancing Test — named for a 1988 New York Court of Appeals case — is used to decide whether one level of government can bypass another’s zoning authority. It weighs nine factors, some of which include the project’s public benefit, environmental impact and whether local oversight would hinder regional goals.

Both Riverhead and SCWA conducted their own tests and reached opposite conclusions. The town’s findings from its test in August, presented by Mr. Rothwell on Thursday after being reaffirmed two days earlier, determined that SCWA should comply with local regulations as a matter of fairness and community accountability.

Southold officials, meanwhile, have questioned whether SCWA has overstated the extent of the water crisis. The town passed irrigation legislation in July and has an ongoing U.S. Geological Survey study on the aquifer.

Joan Cear, recording secretary of the Greater Jamesport Civic Association, urged SCWA officials to consider relocating the pipeline underneath the electric transmission line easements that run from Riverhead to Mattituck, in order to avoid disruption to major roadways like Sound Avenue.

At Thursday’s hearing, residents urged both sides to work together before the conflict escalates.

“We’re headed for an impasse,” said Barbara Blass, a former Riverhead Town Board member. “I don’t think residents want to stop this project, but they also won’t stand by while construction moves forward without accountability.”

Erik Howard, town attorney, said the Riverhead Town Board were advised of its legal options in a recent executive session and the various ways potential litigation could play out. However, no decision to commence litigation has been made.

“The Town Board is prepared to seek judicial intervention if it becomes apparent that such intervention is necessary to protect the best interests of the Town and our residents,” Mr. Howard wrote in an email.

SCWA has received more than 100 comments on the project through public hearings, including one in Westhampton on Monday, Oct. 6, and another the next day in Peconic. The authority will release its final project scope in the coming weeks, publish a draft environmental statement before the end of the year and complete its final environmental impact statement by early 2026.

The open comment period for residents to share input on the SCWA arguing immunity from local zoning laws ends on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 5 p.m. Public comments can be submitted at scwa.com/nfp.

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Concerns expressed by Riverhead officials and consultants included confusion over the exact placement of the water main extension, a lack of inclusion in planning of the pipeline, and a general distrust for the consideration of local impact of the project. 

“There’s virtually no other information other than this line on a map, which makes for me, as an analyst, very difficult to determine what the impacts might be and also what they really should study in the scope,” said Jeffrey Seeman, environmental consultant for the Town of Riverhead. 

Mr. Seeman added that no tax map numbers had been provided to Riverhead Town to evaluate whether the project would go through private properties with underground infrastructure such as gas lines or existing water lines for the Riverhead Water District. Impacts of the pipeline could stand to affect Riverhead’s own development plans in the future, he posited. 

“We have been requesting that information, and we haven’t received anything yet,” Mr. Seeman said. “And to put it in the draft impact statement is a little late, to say the least.”

The notion that Riverhead Town has not been treated as an involved agency for the proposed SCWA pipeline is something Mr. Seeman disagreed with on the grounds that “all of the land that this will run through in Riverhead is owned by the town.” He compared the project to someone building a fence on private property, with the property owner not having a say in the height, construction and placement of said fence.

“I don’t think they are up to speed on the requirements of really what the SEQRA standards are,” Mr. Seeman said. 

Riverhead Town will conduct its own Monroe Balancing Test on Tuesday, Aug. 19, at 6 p.m. at Riverhead Town Hall to determine whether or not, and to what extent, the SCWA pipeline project may be exempt from local zoning and land use regulations. The test was originally developed in 1988 after a New York Court of Appeals decision between Monroe County and the City of Rochester. 

It is a nine-pronged test that weighs a host community’s impacts, effects on local government authority, land use regulation, the potential of improvements, and the extent that the public interest is to be served by the improvements, among other considerations.

“The SCWA’s initial position on this was that they were going to conduct a Monroe Balancing Test through their DEIS scoping, which I believe is legally insufficient and procedurally improper,” Riverhead town attorney Erik Howard said. 

The decision to list the Town of Riverhead as an interested agency instead of an involved agency in respect to the project is something Mr. Howard said is a “majority deficiency in the proposal.” He added that the pipeline, meant to service Southold and improve its water infrastructure, is something that would not serve to benefit the Riverhead community. 

Southold Town Councilman Greg Doroski noted the importance of both Southold and Riverhead towns working as “a unified front” on this matter. 

A similar informational meeting was hosted in Peconic in June where community members listed hundreds of concerns about the pipeline — concerns that Southold Town officials noted and submitted in a six-page questionnaire to the SCWA, Mr. Doroski said. 

“There is a fundamental question for us all to ask, you know, ‘Whose water is this?’” Mr. Doroski said. “They’re taking water from Southampton, bringing it through Riverhead to serve Southold. 

“I think we need to look at this together, because it’s not just about this one well; I have similar questions whether there is capacity in that individual well to supply the water that they say they need now and potentially in the future,” Mr. Doroski said. 

Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski commended Riverhead for its informational and municipal efforts regarding the pipeline project. He said some of the concerns Southold officials brought up regarding the impact on Southampton and Riverhead of the proposed project have not been openly discussed. 

“For anyone to propose to move water that far, through different boundaries and through different watersheds and different aquifers, without considering the work of the United States Geological Survey, doesn’t seem to make any sense at all from a resource management standpoint,” Mr. Krupski said. He stressed the importance of considering the recent scientific studies when creating the project plan. 

“There’s a finite amount of water,” Mr. Krupski said. “I don’t know who’s done the work to really determine is that enough water.”

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