2020-8-11 Jennifer
Wilson-Pines Article on The Island Now
MY translation
http://www.epochtimes.com/b5/20/8/11/n12321844.htm
Earth
Matters: Long Island’s aquifer can be sustained
地球重要事宜：長島的含水層可以維持
原文刊登於 The
Island Now 8/3/2020
作者介紹:
詹妮弗·威爾遜·派恩斯（Jennifer Wilson-Pines）擁有20多年的經驗在長島曼哈賽海灣(Manhasst)保護委員會，長島海灣研究(Long Island Sound
Study)公民諮詢委員會中負責水質和其他環境問題，並曾擔任長島北岸奧杜邦協會主席和現任保護主席。 2013年，她獲得了環境保護局的個人質量獎，這是該局第二區授予環境保護局的最高榮譽。她和她的先生傑米(Jamie)從中國收養兩個女兒。詹妮弗還活躍於教會，擔任主日學老師，並且是長島華盛頓港公益金的長期董事會成員。
在長島，我們是住在我們所飲用的水之上的。與市區不同，長島的水不是來自溪流，湖泊或水庫，而是抽自地下的含水層。這是我們唯一的飲用水來源，也用於灌溉，商業和製造用途。含水層由三層組成，即上層，磁層和最下層，即勞埃德。它們被粘土層分開，在長島的不同區域深度不同。
要了解我們的含水層，您需要了解長島是如何形成的。在更新世的冰河時期，從260萬年前到一萬一千年前的多波冰川流過整塊大陸。想像一下，一塊兩千英尺高的冰層在整個景觀中搜尋，推開一塊巨石，岩石，黏土和沙子，直到達到溫度限制它們前進的極限。在冰河時期，大量的水被包在冰原中，海平面降低了150至四百英尺-海灘離岸約100英里。
這堆巨大的碎片被稱為終端冰磧。長島是由海港山冰磧Harbour HillMoraine和容孔科馬冰磧RonkonkomaMoraine所創砌出的，它們的長度與長島相當。當您在長島高速公路上開車時，您大約就是在沿著冰磧而行。長島的最東北角是Orient Point，在它東方的島嶼：梅花島 (Plum Island)和小鷗島 (Little Gull Island) 也是冰磧的一部分，它繼續在水下延伸向羅德島。
多岩石的北岸，有懸崖和高丘，是冰川停止移動的地方。隨著時間的流逝，細粒沙子被沖到南部，形成平坦的沖積平原和南岸寬闊的海灘。這種構造使得長島，尤其是北岸的地質非常複雜。
地下含水層並不是巨大的水池，而是可以容納數百萬加侖水的沙子和礫石區域。如果您沿整個長島向南延伸的橫截面切片，則含水層看起來像長楔形，由北岸的淺端向南越深越寬。
上層是由冰河時期沉積的物質形成的。市政供應商已不再使用它，但在長島的最東端仍有一些房屋依靠私人水井。下一層，瑪西蒂（Magothy）暴露在北端，這就是為什麼北岸有這麼多泉水和小溪的原因。最低層，勞埃德，是史前的水。勞埃德（Lloyd）專為遭受鹽水入侵的沿海社區保留。長島被海水包圍著，海岸附近的水井抽出淡水時，海水被抽入。
降雨和積雪的滲入使地下水蓄積，時間長達二十五至一千年。隨著長島人口的增加，越來越多的地面被不透水的表面，建築物，車道和停車場所覆蓋，這些地方是水無法滲入土壤的地方。同時，越來越多的水被抽取超過補給。美國地質調查局正在對含水層進行調查，以使幾十年來的第一次，水供應商和市政當局將有實際數字來設定實際的抽水上限。儘管長島還沒有遭受水危機的困擾，但它正在隱約可見。
我們正面臨著幾個問題。從過去到現在工業的污染迫使供應商投資購買昂貴的設備來清潔水。在某些情況下，污染迫使水井關閉。污染還來自化肥和化糞池系統中的氮，殺蟲劑和除草劑。
上個世紀所建造的雨水系統旨在捕獲水並將水引入最近的水域，通常是海灣。目前有補給池，但捕獲水量不足。同時，污水處理廠每天從我們的家中取走廢水，進行處理，每天將數百萬加侖的淡水泵入海洋。有一些試點計劃可以將這種灰水重新用於高爾夫球場和公園的灌溉
如果三百萬的長島人能做以下幾件簡單的事情，可以對長島的水量有很大的幫助。刷牙，洗碗時，請節省用水，尤其現在，我們每天都要洗很多次手。確保灑水裝置不要在道路，人行道和車道上灑水。將雨水傳感器放在灌溉系統上，或在預報有雨水時將其關閉。更好的是，在一年中最熱的時候學習與休眠的（棕色）草一起生活。還有，僅在滿負荷時使用洗衣機和洗碗機
以全球性來考慮，我們間接地使用那些生產產品和食品所用的水，因為獲得清潔的水是世界性的問題。少吃牛肉，生產每磅牛肉需要一千八百加侖的水。喝咖啡者改喝茶，因為種茶葉比咖啡少耗水。食用更多的當地食物，減少含糖飲料，因為在製糖，生產和包裝過程中，每一步驟都相當於幾浴缸的水。學習澳大利亞的一個小要訣，在浴缸裡放一個水桶接那些在等待水熱時浪費的水，用於植物澆水。
長島上的水並不是我們可以無限擁有的資源。只有大家的共同合作才能解決這個問題。
By Jennifer
Wilson Pines
Here on Long
Island we live on top of our drinking water. Unlike the city, our water does
not come from streams, lakes or reservoirs, but is pumped from underground
aquifers. This is our sole source of drinking water, which is also used for
irrigation, commercial and manufacturing uses. The aquifer consists of three
layers, the Upper, the Magothy and the lowest layer, the Lloyd. They are
separated by layers of clay and vary in depth in different areas of the island.
To understand
our aquifers, you need to understand how the island was formed. During the
Pleistocene Ice Age multiple waves of glaciers from 2.6 million years ago to as
recently as 11,000 years ago flowed across the continent. Imagine a 2,000
foot-high sheet of ice scouring the landscape, pushing ahead a mountain of
boulders, rocks, clay and sand until it reached a limit where the temperature
restrained it from advancing. During the Ice Age, so much water was locked up
in the ice sheets that sea level was 150 to 400 feet lower — the beach would
have been about 100 miles offshore.
This giant pile
of debris is known as a terminal moraine. Long Island was created by the Harbor
Hill Moraine and Ronkonkoma Moraine, which run the length of Long Island. When
you drive the LIE, you are roughly following the moraine. The islands off
Orient Point — Plum and Little Gull — are part of the moraine that continues on
underwater toward Rhode Island.
The rocky North
Shore, with its cliffs and high hills, is where the glaciers stopped their movement.
Over time the fine grain sands washed out to the south, creating the flat
outwash plain and wide beaches of the South Shore. This formation makes the
geology of the island and particularly the North Shore, very complicated.
Aquifers are not
giant pools of water underground, but areas of sand and gravel that can hold
millions of gallons of water. If you took a cross-section slice running north
south across the island, the aquifers would look like long wedges, with the
shallow end at the North Shore becoming deeper and wider to the south.
The Upper layer
was formed by material laid down during the Ice Age. It is no longer used by
municipal suppliers, but there are homes on the East End that still rely on
private wells. The next layer, the Magothy, is exposed at the north end- that’s
why there are so many springs and small streams on the North Shore. The lowest
layer, the Lloyd, is prehistoric water. The Lloyd is reserved for coastal
communities suffering from saltwater intrusion. The island is surrounded by sea
water and as wells near the coast pump out fresh water, saltwater is drawn in.
The aquifers are
recharged by rain and snow percolating down, taking from 25 to 1,000 years. As
the island has become more populated, more ground has been covered with impervious
surfaces, buildings, driveways and parking lots, places where water can’t soak
into the soil. And at the same time, more and more water is being withdrawn
than is recharging. The United States Geological Surver is doing a survey of
the aquifers so that for the first time in decades, water suppliers and
municipalities will have actual numbers to set realistic pumping caps. While
the island is not in a water crisis yet, it is looming on the horizon.
There are
several issues facing us. Contamination from past and present industry has
forced suppliers to invest in expensive equipment to clean the water. In some
cases, contamination has forced the closure of wells. Contamination also comes
from the nitrogen in fertilizers and septic systems, pesticides and herbicides.
Stormwater
systems built over the last century were designed to capture and direct the
water into the nearest body of water, often a bay. There are recharge sumps,
but they don’t capture enough. At the same time, sewage treatment plants take
the wastewater from our homes, treat it and pump millions of gallons of
freshwater into the ocean every day. There are some pilot programs to reuse
this gray water for irrigation on golf courses and parks.
Simple things
can make a difference if done by the 3 million Long Islanders. Turn off the tap
when brushing teeth, washing dishes, and the many times a day we all now wash
our hands. Make sure sprinklers don’t water roads, sidewalks and driveways. Put
a rain sensor on your irrigation system or turn it off when rain is forecast.
Better yet, learn to live with dormant (brown) grass during the hottest part of
the year. Only run the washing machine and dishwasher when you have a full
load.
Think globally
about your indirect water usage, the water used to produce products and foods,
because access to clean water is a worldwide issue. Eat less beef – 1,800
gallons goes into producing every pound of beef. Switch to tea, much less water
intensive than coffee. Consume more local foods, cut out sugary drinks- each one
equals several bathtubs of water in sugar production, manufacturing and
packaging. Take a tip from Australia, put a bucket in the tub to catch the
water wasted while you wait for it to warm up. Use it for watering plants.
This problem
will only be solved with everyone’s cooperation. Water on Long Island is not an
unlimited resource.
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