Experts to discuss sprawl's impact on water

Monroe - Jay Beaumont, the executive director of the Orange County Water Authority, and Simon Gruber, president of the Moodna Basin Coalition, will be guest speakers at the Town of Monroe Conservation Commission’s meeting scheduled for Wednesday, March 15, at 8 p.m. in the John D’Angelis Town Hall. Beaumont and Gruber will discuss the state’s new sewer and storm water protection regulations affecting municipalities with population densities greater than 1,000 people per square mile. They will present several strategies to reduce pollutants including stream bio-monitoring, best practices for watershed and wetland protection, decentralized wastewater treatment facilities, “green building” techniques, public involvement and land use ordinances. “Our inland waters are in extreme jeopardy as a result of urban and suburban sprawl,” said Commission Chairman John Ebert. “Especially disturbing is the increased salinization of fresh water in the northeastern United States ... that, if unbridled, will result in surface waters becoming not potable for human consumption and toxic to freshwater life within the next century by some recent estimates.” The commission also will use the opportunity to enlist volunteers for a planned “stream-walk” project during April or May. The meeting is open to the public.