Georgica Pond Preserve
About
Located on the corner of Montauk Highway and Wainscott Stone Road in East Hampton, a former commercial property is being transformed into a viable wetlands area for a healthier Georgica Pond.
The property was acquired by the Trust in August 2020 -- thanks to the generosity of Katharine Rayner who donated the funds to support not only the purchase of the lands but also its remediation and restoration.
Although the site is zoned for residential use it had been used as a restaurant for over 50 years, now that the land is protected, it can be part of a solution to help improve the pond's water quality. Its restoration will aid in improving the health of the pond and surrounding natural habitat by removing the building, septic system and leaching fields that have contributed to the degradation of the pond’s water quality.
First steps included removing the buildings on site and creating a restoration plan, which includes new plantings of native grasses and wetland vegetation. In the Fall of 2021, native plantings and a walking path were installed.
Nitrogen and phosphorus are major contributors to the harmful algal blooms that have stressed many of our local ponds and bays, including Georgica Pond. The protection and restoration of this property will be an important step toward improving the health of the pond.
Located where Talmage Creek flows into Georgica Pond, the property sits within the 4,000-acre Georgica Pond Watershed.* The protection of this land will revert a developed property back to nature (today, approximately 59% of the land within the watershed is developed*). The area is home to a wide-range of birds, reptiles, finfish and shellfish, and native plants and trees — including osprey, snapping turtles and blue crabs.
In 2021 the Trust was awarded a grant of $74,428 through the Town of East Hampton’s CPF Water Quality Improvement funds. The grant funding was put towards studying the upper western tributary of the pond, part of a larger, multi-phased study to document the health of Georgica Pond, identify causes of concern, and eventually provide solutions to improve it (the design of a nitrogen remediation technology). Since completing the work along the upper western tributary, the Trust has been working with Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) to identify where groundwater with nitrogen is entering Georgica Pond by supporting a pond-wide study. Once we pinpoint the locations of nitrogen-rich groundwater seepage into the pond, the Trust can target funds for remediation and implement measures to maximize nitrogen reduction in these areas.
The Trust looks forward to working with both the Town of East Hampton and the Friends of Georgica Pond Foundation in ongoing efforts to reduce the storm water run-off into the pond from both Route 27/Montauk Highway and Wainscott Stone Road.
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For more information about the Trust’s acquisition of the property read the September 2020 press release here.
Learn more about this project in the video below.
Georgica Pond Preserve
108 Wainscott Stone Road, Wainscott, NY 11975
Things To Do
Birdwatching
