Water for Long Island: Now and for the future

John P. Masterson; Robert F. Breault

doi:10.3133/fs20193052

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USGS · fs20193052

Water for Long Island: Now and for the future

John P. Masterson·Robert F. Breault

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Abstract

Do you ever wonder where your water comes from? If you live in Nassau or Suffolk County, the answer is, groundwater. Groundwater is water that started out as precipitation (rain and snow melt) and seeped into the ground. This seepage recharges the freshwater stored underground, in the spaces between the grains of sand and gravel in what are referred to as aquifers. Long Island has three primary aquifers—the upper glacial, Magothy, and Lloyd—which are part of the Long Island aquifer system. Currently [2019], this aquifer system contains about 50 trillion gallons of freshwater.

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Source-reported bounding extent: 40.52423878069866° to 41.168316941075766° latitude; -74.04544830322264° to -71.8011474609375° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

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John P. Masterson, Robert F. Breault. 2019-09-24. Water for Long Island: Now and for the future. https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20193052

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