Supervisor Lesko Announces Moratorium on
Carmans River Development
Video of Press Event
Mass. Audubon Outdoor Almanac - Winter 2010-2011
View Slides of Scenic Drive Field Trip
Nov. 1, 2008 ...
Stormwater Program
Stormwater Treatment
Stormwater Filtration Systems
| WHAT'S NEW |
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New Fencing for Swezey-Avey House at Willow Lake - June, 2011
 NP&V Feasibility Study Finally Released ! - April, 2011
LI Advance - February 17, 2011 - by Linda Leuzzi
Protected Lands Council Final Report - January 19, 2011
Newsday - November 16, 2010
Newsday - October 21, 2010
Task Force Final Recommendations and Vote - Oct. 4, 2010
2nd Public Meeting, Tues., Sept. 14, 2010, 7:00 PM
Long Island Advance - June 3, 2010 "Goals To Protect The River - Brookhaven's Carmans River Protection Plan draws crowd .." Read More ...  Public Meeting Held at Yaphank Fire House, April 21, 2010
Trumpeter Swans Return to Willow Lake - Dec. 15, 2009 A pair of rare Trumpeter Swans have returned to Willow Lake. Last seen here in February 2009, the pair has returned. Trumpeters are the largest native North American birds, and are endangered and rare for our region.View Swans  North Fork Sun - Levy negotiates $57M Legacy Village sale price Longwood Board of Education vice president Daniel Tomaszewski drew the most questions from the Legislature over his concern that the number of school-age children Mr. Levy has said the project would generate -- an estimate he said is "too conservative." Suffolk County Lakes Aquatic Invasives Website Now Open The Suffolk County Lakes companion website for the "Feasibility Study to Eradicate Aquatic Invasive/Nuisance Species in Canaan Lake, North Patchogue and Upper & Lower Lakes, Yaphank" is now online.View Website Groundwater Contributing Areas and Land Use for Carmans River Model estimated contributing areas are based on projected future average pumping rates and long term average precipitation and recharge.View Model South Yaphank Civic's Legacy Village News To keep up with all the developments - check this site ! Legacy Village News Patchogue Advance - Letter Concerning Legacy Village "Environmental and civic groups voice concerns to legislature: Just a few days after the Carmans River Partnership meeting, several of the same organizations that are members forwarded a letter to the Suffolk County Legislature with their concerns about the major waterway and Legacy Village project." Read Patchogue Advance article ... Steve Levy's World - Live !- "Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy presented a controversial plan Tuesday to build hundreds of affordable housing units and a sports and entertainment venue off Yaphank Avenue." CSYL joins the local residents, civic groups, and Longwood School District officials who oppose this ill-conceived plan. Carmans River Partnership - Legacy Village Letter - Oct. 20, 2009
Carmans River Partnership Field Session - Oct. 16, 2009
Local Cub Scouts Help Plant Garden at Lily Lake - May 16, 2009 Many Thanks to local Cub Scout Pack #79 for their work on Saturday. Pack 79 showed up at 9:00AM sharp and planted a beautiful garden around the new sign at Lily Lake. Thanks again for all your help !! CSYL Signs Restore Historical Names of the Yaphank Lakes - April 23, 2009 Willow Lake Sign: "Original site of Swezey's Mill, built under a grant from the town trustees to Capt. Robert Robertson in 1739. He built the first grist and saw mills in what is now Yaphank. The mill pond that was formed became known as Willow Lake."
CSYL's Willow Lake Water Quality Monitoring Underway - April 2009 CSYL, working with Brookhaven National Lab, Brookhaven Town Environmental Protection, and Boy Scout Troop 433 of Middle Island, has initiated a project to monitor water quality at multiple sites from Bartlett Rd. to Willow Lake spillway. We will be measuring TDS, Salinity, pH, Conductivity, Temperature, and Dissolved Oxygen, as well as Nitrate-Nitrogen values, with samples taken at five monitoring sites, from Bartlett Rd. to just below the Willow Lake spillway. Harvester Returns to Lily Lake ... to Work ! - April 4, 2009 Brookhaven Town Highway Dep't. personnel launched the Peconic Queen this Saturday, April 4, to begin weed harvesting on Lily Lake. It was cold and quite windy, but the Peconic Queen seemed to handle & function well. Each pass of the harvester brought back 2 full payloader buckets. The quantity of the weeds brought out of the lake was amazing. It looks to be a good start at keeping the weeds down until a final solution can be put in place. View Slides of Peconic Queen at Lily Lake ... Carmans River/Willow Lake Sampling Results - Oct./Dec., 2008 CSYL requested water samples be taken at Willow Lake Spillway, this past October. Initially samples were requested for the area at the bottom of the west embankment. This area is characterized by rust-colored water that seeps from the embankment, and remains in the slow-moving pool indefinitely. Read the detailed reports. What were the findings ? - Above normal levels of aluminum, barium, and manganese at all sites, high fecal coliform readings at the beach site #240-172E; and extremely high levels of manganese and iron, as well as high levels of the following chemicals: Benzo(b)fluoranthene, Benzo(ghi)perylene, Benzo-a-pyrene, Chloroxylenol, Chrysene, and 1,4-Dichlorobenzene were found at the spillway embankment site #240-169
Trumpeter Swans Acknowledged by New York State Rare Bird Site - "Two TRUMPETER SWAN (S) were recently identified on Upper Lake in Yaphank. These birds presumably moving south from northern New York and the Great Lakes region stem from an introduced population released in New York and adjacent Ontario and are not yet on the New York list. Discussed annually by the New York State Avian Records Committee and based on criteria established by NYSARC for acceptance of exotic species Trumpeters are still several years away from being added to the state list. But reports of sightings are encouraged so that their movements away from their few current breeding sites can be monitored." ... read New York Rare Bird reports for 2009. Rare Trumpeter Swans Sighted at Willow Lake - Three Trumpeter Swans, the largest native North American birds, an endangered species, and very rare for our region, have appeared at Willow Lake this week. In a recent period of unusually busy bird activity on the lake, a pair of adult Trumpeters showed up, along with an immature Trumpeter. Anthony Graves, from the Town of Brookhaven Environmental Protection Dept., after viewing the birds with a spotting scope, and observing their behaviour, has confirmed their identification.View Swans ...
Four Seasons of Recreation ! Willow Lake froze over hard this January, and despite having to shovel a few inches of snow off the surface, nothing stopped the hockey games View Slides of Skaters ... CSYL's Willow (Upper) Lake Water Quality Monitoring Initiative - Jan. 2009 CSYL, working with Brookhaven National Lab, Brookhaven Town Environmental Protection, and Boy Scout Troop 433 of Middle Island, has initiated a project to monitor water quality at multiple sites from Bartlett Rd. to Willow (Upper) Lake spillway. Stay tuned for more news. Hopefully, real work can begin in early March, 2009. In a related effort, CSYL has contacted NY DEC for biological sampling data on the Carmans River, for the years 1989 through 2008. We received a letter from Margaret Novak, NY DEC Stream Biomonitoring Unit, Bureau of Water Assessment and Management. Only 2 Carmans River sites were monitored, both below Lily Lake dam. Here are summaries of their findings:
Legislator Kate Browning Spearheads Coalition's Stormwater Initiative - Jan. 2009 Suffolk County Third District Legislator Kate Browning has spearheaded two projects that aim to restore the ecological health and recreational opportunities for fishing and boating that constituents have enjoyed for generations on Upper and Lower Yaphank Lake. Read More ... First Appearance of Lily Lake Name Change - Dec. 2008 NYS DEC updates its signage at Lily (Lower) Lake! View Sign ... Coalition Witnesses Trial Launch of Peconic Queen Harvester in Lily Lake - Oct. 2008 Brookhaven Town Highway Dep't. personnel launched the recently purchased harvester, Peconic Queen, for a trial run in Lily Lake. Other than a small hydraulic system problem, all systems were go. The Peconic Queen will return in the early spring for the first harvest of invasive weeds! View Slides of Peconic Queen at Lily Lake ... Researcher Deciphers the Genetic Lineage of Yaphank's Milfoil - September 22, 2008 "CSYL was contacted by Ryan Thum, a scientist at Grand Valley State Univ, in Michigan, this past summer. He requested and we supplied him with milfoil samples from Willow Lake (Upper Lake)" Read Results ... CSYL & Councilwoman Kepert Restore Original Lake Names - August 19, 2008 "At Tuesday night's Town Board meeting, Brookhaven Councilwoman Kepert responded to the Coalition To Save The Yaphank Lakes by ushering in a resolution to officially change the name of the Upper and Lower Lakes in Yaphank to Willow and Lilly Lakes respectively." Read More... Steve Levy Responds to Coalition Action Letter - July, 2008 In response to CSYL mailing to local town & county leaders, Steve Levy answers our requests for more action ... View Letter From Steve Levy, Suffolk County Executive ... Coalition Pushes Town for Stormwater Management Action - June, 2008 CSYL has contacted John Rouse, Sup't. of Highways, Brookhaven Town, for information and status on the Stormwater Management Plan of Action for Upper and Lower Lakes in Yaphank. View Slides of Willow Lake Falls Cleanup... Coalition Identifies Storm Drains Dumping Directly into Carmans River - June, 2008 Location of Upper Lake Storm Drains dumping directly into Carmans River >>> View Map <<< Coalition Begins Spring Projects at Willow Lake (a.k.a Upper Lake) - May - June, 2008 CSYL Members spruce up the area; Dr. Steve Abrams, of Stony Brook's School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences, volunteers his time to create the first Fish Inventory Report for the lakes. View Slides ... Coalition Gets NYS DEC to Install Invasive Species Signs at Upper & Lower Lakes - February, 2008 "Invasive Species Do Not Sell List ... Nassau and Suffolk Counties " Read More... "Protect Your Waters ! Prevent the Spread of Invasive Species... When Your Leave a body of water, remove any mud, plants, fish, or animals before transporting equipment"Read More... Lower Lake Disposal Station Installed, March, 2008 - to be used by boaters to dispose of any plants clinging to boats. View ... Lower Lake weeds, already starting up in March. View ... Trout Season 2008 Opens at Upper Lake. View Slide Show ... Coalition Gets Dam Analysis from Consultants - December 10, 2007 "The dam consists of an earth fill dam with bulkheading on the upstream side impounding Upper Yaphank Lake (see photo 9). Generally, the bulkhead is in good condition and does not need replacement except for about four feet on the east side of the spillway. The dam is actually about two hundred feet wide with Yaphank-Middle Island Road running along the dam." Read More ... Aquatic Analysts Inc. Responds to Coalition's RFI - December 7, 2007 "In regards to weed harvesting, this may have to be done 2 times per year. Since the areas are shallow the water level may have to be raised in order to float the loaded harvester. One advantage of the shallow waters is that the cutter bar on the harvester should be able to cut just above the hydrosoil. The hydrosoil is the layer of sediment that comes in contact with the water. By cutting the plants this close to the hydrosoil the regrowth of the plants may be inhibited. " Read More ... Dr. Ken Wagner, Pres. NALMS, Responds to Coalition's RFI - December, 2007 "Variable leaf watermilfoil (VWM) and Cabomba caroliniana (CC) represent a very difficult combination. They co-occur in coastal outwash lakes most often, with slightly acidic waters and usually sandy substrates overlain by organic muck. Dominance can fluctuate by year or location in the pond, although under stable conditions, CC usually becomes dominant. No one herbicide will kill both, and no one herbicide will kill either in a single dose." Read More ... Carmans River Protection Group Formed - December 4, 2007 "The establishment of a Working Group for the Upper and Lower Lakes of the Carmans River, which will assist in development of strategies to clean and protect the lakes from invasive species, restore their natural beauty and help to preserve and protect the entire Carmans River." Read More ... Town Board Meeting - November 8, 2007
Supervisor Foley and members of the Town Board - |
