Join The Orient Water Project

Orient sits atop a single, thin, freshwater aquifer and is surrounded by beautiful, productive bays and estuaries. Unfortunately, both our groundwater and our surface waters have been degraded over the past half-century, and both face significant threats going forward.

Water is the lifeblood of this community, so the OA believes it is critical to understand and confront these threats. We are therefore working on developing a comprehensive plan for remediating and protecting the hamlet’s ground and surface waters. The plan will cover three areas:

Situation assessment
Prioritization of actions to be taken
Activation (identification of funding and responsible party–Suffolk County Government, NYC DEC, EPA, etc.)

Suffolk County has recently commissioned significant research and provided new funding for groundwater, wastewater, and surface water problems, but for real and immediate impact in Orient, local action is needed.

Our goal is to substantially improve Orient’s ground and surface waters and implement a long-term, responsibly funded management plan that will sustain Orient’s water quality and protect our community’s health long into the future.

The OA has engaged experts (hydrologists, biologists, stormwater, groundwater, and wastewater specialists) to make sure both the situation assessment and the recommended actions are based in science. This expert consulting represents a significant investment, but a large group of Orient residents has supported the project.

When the consulting engagement is complete, the OA will present findings and recommendations to the community and will lobby the appropriate entities (Southold Town, Suffolk County, New York State, federal agencies) to take action on the highest priority projects.

If you are considering making a larger donation, you can help us save credit card fees and make your donation go further.

By check:

Address: Orient Association, POB 282, Orient, NY, 11957
Payable to: “Orient Association”
Note: Mark your check as directed to “OA Water Project”

By Zelle

Name: Orient Association
Email: [email protected]
Mobile number: leave blank
Memo: write “OA Water Project and your email address”

or… Donate by credit card by clicking below:

Donate to the Orient Water Project

Join Orient Association

Donate to the Orient Water Project

Happening Now

Orient Water Project Recommendations Survey

The OA Water Committee recently met with consultants at CDM Smith to discuss present and future recommendations that the community should consider to sustain the health of our water resources. While the consultant has analyzed historical data from private well testing performed by Suffolk County Department Health Services, we do not have much information about how folks in the community are coping with issues of contamination and reliability. The Committee wanted to hear directly from residents about their experience and practices with their well water.

Summer 2023 Newsletter

We hope you are all enjoying the cool and peaceful days of spring as we approach the busy summer months.Kicking off the summer season, after a long hiatus the first in-person Annual Meeting of the Orient Association will be held on Saturday, May 27th at 9:30 am in Poquatuck Hall.Members of the Orient Association will be voting on a new slate of officers and Board Members will be introduced.

Why Should We Care About Code Compliance? June 11, 2023

The town code includes regulations about many things that affect us including short-term rentals; building size and construction, noise; our visible environment including signs, lighting and dark skies; RV, trailer and boat storage; landscaping and dumpsters. Code compliance and enforcement (or lack of it) often comes up in our community meetings. It impacts many of the things that recent surveys say we value. Learn how code enforcement works and some ways it might be improved, and your role in ensuring compliance and enforcement.