Digest this . . .

SEWERS HARMING VALLEY WATERSHED:

A paradigm shift, already under way, is essential if we are to keep our wastes from spoiling water resources in the rapidly growing Hudson River watershed region. Moving away from central sewers is an important strategy for protecting our drinking water supply and the quality of our streams. ... Another school of thought favors a decentralized approach to managing wastewater. Instead of one large plant discharging to a stream, this approach uses a combination of individual septic systems and smaller community waste treatment systems. It allows homes to be built close to one another, but uses soil and plants to treat sewage, thereby avoiding discharges to streams at a fraction of the cost of centralized systems.

Decentralized systems can help to ensure a sustainable water supply because we can treat the water close to its source and use it to recharge groundwater. Farms, parks and forests can all be used for soil dispersal, so systems can be designed to fit, irrigate and fertilize the local landscape.

Together with clustering homes, preserving open spaces and other site-design tools, decentralized waste and stormwater strategies can help to protect stream corridors and adjacent habitat.
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Sounds too good to be true? Well, there is one catch: decentralized systems, like most technologies, require proper design and ongoing management to work properly. With good reason, regulators are reluctant to approve smaller systems unless they will be managed effectively. Municipal leaders in some communities, recognizing that compact development, open space protection, and sustainable watershed management can be combined using these design concepts, are beginning to think about municipal management programs.

If this hurdle can be overcome, decentralized design concepts promise to become an integral part of land use planning and help to ensure sustainable watersheds for future generations.