Remember the days of persistent algal blooms in Long Island Sound? When hypodermic needles washed up on shore? When only truly brave souls went in for a swim — and then headed straight for the shower?
Those days are thankfully gone. It’s taken a concerted effort — by government and private agencies, working together and on their own — to clean up the Sound.
But how healthy is it today?
Save the Sound knows. The New Haven-based organization’s new online tool provides 10 years of water quality data, easily understandable by the public.
Compo Beach beckons on a hot day. But is the water as healthy as it looks?
One section focuses on the health of coastal beaches, including bacterial pollution that leads to beach closures and water quality degradation.
Rainfall data shows which locations suffer from bacterial contamination as a result of wet weather overflows and runoff, and which suffer in dry weather too.
The Findings & Solutions section offers strategies for reducing water pollution.
Every beach in Connecticut and New York is rated, from A to F. SPOILER ALERT: Compo gets a B-.
It’s not the sexiest site on the interwebs.
Nor is this one of the most irresistible stories I’ve ever posted on “06880.”
But if you care at all about Long Island Sound — and who in Westport doesn’t? — then clicking this link might be the most important things you do all day.
(Hat tip: Wally Meyer)