A work in progress:

The Citizen's Guide to the Sewershed provides local information on the issue of combined sewer overflow (CSO) in the Newtown Creek drainage area of New York City. CSO occurs when wet weather overwhelms the City's sewage treatment process, and results in approximately 27 billion gallons of untreated wastewater being discharged into the estuary each year -- from the 5 boroughs alone!

While experts consider CSO pollution to be the leading threat to water quality in the estuary, it is of particular concern to the wide range of waterfront users that work, learn and recreate right where CSOs happen. Understanding more about CSO pollution is an important part of protecting yourself at the water's edge.

LESEC has used the Citizen's Guide in its own lessons, and offers it to teachers, students and the interested public. To download a 3.9MB PDF version of the guide, click here. You can request higher-resolution versions of any of the maps or photos by emailing tara@lesecologycenter.org

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