PECONIC BAYKEEPER INC

We stand at an interesting crossroads for water quality on Long Island. While public awareness of the many issues our waters are facing is at an all time high, actual implementation of water quality improvement plans have not nearly kept pace with additional pollution loads. Peconic Baykeeper is dedicated solely to the protection and improvement of our water resources on Long Island. Water is our only mission. We are the specialists, and we need your help to make sure water quality stays on the top of our politician's environmental agendas, and does not become another “cause de jour". By donating to Peconic Baykeeper, you are helping to continue the fight for clean water, today and into the future. Cheers to swimmable, drinkable, and fishable waters!

In addition to participation as advocates and stakeholders in the environmental decision making and review process, Peconic Baykeeper conducts core programs to engage and educate our diverse constituent base. Our Blue Water Task Force bacterial monitoring program regularly tests waterways used by the public for pathogenic bacteria, our Community Oyster Restoration Program inspires conservation stewardship through shellfish restoration, and our Oyster Aquaculture Project has created environmentally sustainable jobs in the Peconic Estuary. Educational partnerships with schools and other organizations foster student-led citizen science in our waterways and biological monitoring projects enhance conservation of several estuarine keystone species.

With backgrounds in Environmental Policy, Marine Science Biology, and Education both in and outside of the classroom, our full-time staff is well-suited to meet the challenges of protecting our waterways. It is a diverse set of challenges that threaten and impair our waterways and it takes an equally diverse skill set to protect them! As a Waterkeeper Organization, we are hands-on, maintaining an active presence on our waterways with our official Baykeeper vessel. This ability allows us to respond to marine pollution events in real-time, enhancing the likelihood that polluters are held accountable for their actions.

Peconic Baykeeper is committed to protecting and restoring the waters of the Peconic Estuary and South Shore Bays. Since our founding in 1998, we have campaigned for the end of mosquito ditching by Suffolk County, an activity that threatens the stability and ecology of our vital marshes. We have become experts and advocates for the implementation of nitrogen-reducing advanced septic systems, installing a unit at our headquarters in addition to leading a community-wide improvement project in Southampton. We have also pushed for local municipalities to adopt a net nitrogen-reduction. New programs devoted to oyster restoration provide hands-on restoration opportunities for the public while mitigating declines in local oyster populations. Our commercial oyster aquaculture program produces sustainable seafood while promoting clean water.