Known as the premier player in the high-end resort residential niche, with 20 world-class projects in its portfolio, Discovery Land Company specializes in building luxury private club communities and resorts in the United States, the Bahamas, and Mexico.  Discovery communities are distinct with their own themes and architectural styles inspired by the natural environment and traditions of the project’s locale. Many Hamptonites have heard that the next Discovery project, named The Hills, will be built right here in East Quogue, and will incorporate a Tom Fazio designed golf course, family-oriented club amenities with 118 beautiful homes. There has been much discussion about this project being built within our community, specifically in regard to how it will affect the local water quality.  KDHamptons shares the real facts and stats below…

The Hills seasonal resort team has worked with local scientists to address a big problem in our area – excessive Nitrogen loading in ground and surface waters. The Hills team have come up with a plan that will actually remove thousands of pounds of Nitrogen from local ground and surface waters, year in and year out. No other project can provide this level of water quality improvement in our area.

The Hills resort will build an irrigation well to the Southern end of the farms on Lewis Road in East Quogue. The water from this well has excessive amounts of Nitrogen in it. The water will be used to irrigate and fertilize The Hills’ golf course and grounds. The golf course and other vegetation will take up the excess Nitrogen thereby removing it from ground water, which would otherwise flow to Weesuck Creek and Shinnecock Bay. As a result of this effort, The Hills golf course and grounds will remove thousands of pounds of Nitrogen every year.

Area bays are currently inhospitable to aquatic life due to excess nutrient loading primarily coming from outdated septic systems. The Hills resort has also committed to nearly $2 million in local investments in advanced waste water system funds, shellfish restoration, research and education to help restore the health of area bays.

The first way that The Hills project will improve area water quality is through a special irrigation well. This well will take ground water, that is high in Nitrogen because of area agricultural activities, and use it to water the golf course and other vegetation on the seasonal resort property. The grass, plants and trees will take up the Nitrogen into their root systems for their own healthy growth. The water that then returns into the ground will have been filtered and purified and will be far better in quality than it is currently. This recycled and filtered water is then safe to return to the ground water supply or travel, over time, into the surface waters.

Local scientists agree that the excess in Nitrogen in our bays is largely (70%) due to human waste coming from outdated septic systems that do not remove much Nitrogen. The Suffolk County Water authority has targeted thousands of homes and businesses in Suffolk County for remediation because of their significant Nitrogen contribution to the bays.

Here’s the best news: The Hills project will invest $1,000,000 in subsidies for septic system upgrades for priority Nitrogen-contributing systems in East Quogue! This will result in far less Nitrogen being contributed into area waters on a daily basis. The Hills project will also invest over $350,000 in bay restoration efforts to restore shellfish, eel grass and other natural water-filtration and water-quality supporting organisms. This effort will result in the removal of Nitrogen contributing elements in the bays.

Want to hear more about this amazing project? The next public hearing to discuss The Hills will be held on Tuesday, January 10th at 6PM [address to follow]. Please join me there to learn more about this exciting project and have the chance to ask any questions you may have for the Discovery Land Company team. See you there! Also be sure to follow @thehillsineastquogue on Instagram HERE or visit The Hills website HERE