FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 22th, 2024

MEDIA CONTACTS: Umberto Mignardi, Kevin Higgins, Michael Anderson (516) 869-7794

Town of North Hempstead Secures $3 Million Federal Grant from U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer

Funds will launch Graywater Project at Harbor Links Golf Course

North Hempstead, NY – North Hempstead Town Supervisor, Jennifer DeSena and the Town Board announced that a recent federal grant from U.S. Senator, Chuck Schumer will allow them to move forward on a key project in the Town’s long-term capital plan. The $3 million grant will fund a Graywater Irrigation Project that utilizes stormwater from a nearby landfill to irrigate Harbor Links Golf Course, thereby decreasing the Town’s freshwater consumption while also reducing the Town’s footprint on the environment.   

Supervisor DeSena and her grant support team travelled to Washington DC for two years consecutively to advocate for the Town's grant applications. She commented, “Gray is the new Green thanks to Senator Schumer! The single act of reducing water consumption at Harbor Links will have a tremendous positive impact on our environment. But the Links are one of our park system’s gems, so we had to find a way to do that while keeping those greens pristine for golfers.  Thanks to the Senator, we can now do both.”

Senator Schumer added, “Protecting Long Island’s sole-source drinking water aquifer and the region’s environment is more important now than ever, and that’s why I’m proud to deliver - along with Senator Gillibrand and Congressman Suozzi - over $3 million for the Town’s longtime priority of reducing water consumption at Harbor Links and for the recycled water that will be used. The project will be a model for other public and private golf courses and will ensure our island - not just Harbor Links - is green into the future.”

Harbor Links in Port Washington is the Town of North Hempstead’s only public golf course, and reducing its water consumption has long been a top priority for public officials. On average, the course uses approximately 36 million gallons of water per year and has historically been one of the largest water users in the Port Washington Water District. The much-anticipated switch to effluent water, often referred to as “gray water” will have no effect on the course aesthetics or the quality of play there.

Changing government regulations and water availability have led to an increase in the use of gray water to irrigate golf facilities across the United States. The Town’s feasibility study identified an ideal relationship between the Town’s Landfill and its Golf Course with respect to the recovery, distribution, and reuse of graywater for irrigation water. The plan calls for the recovery and reuse of stormwater runoff (gray water) and treated water from the landfill’s groundwater treatment system thereby reducing the purchase of potable water for irrigating the courses. Work would include:

• ?Improvements to the existing irrigation lined pond and the installation of floating aerators to improve water quality.
• ?Incorporation of the existing unlined overflow pond into the irrigation pond supply network. The pond has a greater overall capacity than the adjacent lined pond and will include floating aerators and new interconnecting piping to maximize useable volume.
• ?Installation a new permanent pump station in the landfill south retention basin to transfer stormwater to the irrigation ponds on an “as-needed” basis.
• ?Upgrades to existing irrigation pond pumping systems, replacing pumps and piping inside the building and new interconnecting piping between irrigation pond and pumps.

Situated along Hempstead Harbor, the 168-acre venue boasts both 18-hole and 9-hole golf courses, miniature golf, and event rental space. With native grasses, wildlife habitats and 50 acres of wetlands, the public course is considered one of Long Island’s most unique golfing excursions. The address is 1 W Fairway Dr, Port Washington, NY 11050.