A new, recently released study of Georgica Pond’s water quality contains a big surprise. Bacteria tests conducted by the Surfrider Foundation and Chris Gobler’s Stony Brook Southampton laboratory, paid for by the Friends of Georgica Pond, have for some time shown elevated fecal bacteria levels, especially after heavy rain. Now, thanks to further work by Dr. Gobler and several colleagues, a culprit, if not the source, has been identified: dogs.

Bacteria DNA in water samples taken between May and November were analyzed and the results were a shocker. Human waste accounted for less than 5 percent of the total, while dogs were responsible for about 67 percent. The rest came from birds and deer. 

Where the dog bacteria were highest is curious, too. According to a report prepared by the Gobler lab, Talmage Creek, which skirts the Montauk Highway rest area near Wainscott Stone Road, indicated the greatest amount, followed by Georgica Cove. The report surmises that people walking their pets in the rest area could account for the high numbers, but it notes that stormwater that drains from considerable distances is a likely factor as well. Intercepting road runoff before it can reach the pond should improve things, the report concludes.

Bacteria are just one aspect of water quality, of course. East Hampton Town recently imposed a requirement that the wastewater systems in all new construction be nitrogen-reducing. Other pressures on the pond’s ecosystem include lawn and landscape products, acidification due to climate change, fossil fuels, and, potentially, even trace amounts of pharmaceutical drugs.

It is noteworthy that the Georgica bacteria studies are for the most part projects of nongovernmental groups. This brings to mind the work being done by Concerned Citizens of Montauk. East Hampton Town, for all its official enthusiasm for as yet unproven nitrogen-reduction systems, has lagged when it comes to getting the data necessary for designing effective remediation. Much more must be done if the waterways are to be restored and protected over the long term. 

Though readers might find it amusing that dog poop is implicated in this case, it is important information. The Friends of Georgica Pond, the Surfrider Long Island Chapter, and the Gobler lab are doing good work. They deserve the community’s thanks — and a swift response from state and local authorities.

At a time when young people have taken leadership roles in the fight for sensible gun control, led the Black Lives Matter movement, and generally found new political activism, allowing them to have a voice at the local level is a logical next step. Guild Hall, for example, recently created a teen council, in which high school students receive a stipend for attending meetings to help shape cultural programs and build audiences of the future. That would be most obviously valuable in some form on school boards and perhaps in Town Hall.

There is a state precedent, of sorts. Students on the State University of New York’s 64 campuses vote each year for an executive board and student assembly president. The president automatically becomes a voting member of the SUNY board of trustees. This provides a conduit for undergraduate and graduate student opinion and ideas to reach the highest level of the state educational system.

Under state law, one must be 18 to run for school board, which would preclude most students from mounting a campaign. However, a student-elected representative could join in an advisory role. In most districts here, unelected superintendents sit with board members at meetings, often at the head of the table. Why not seat a young person whose peers believe he or she could represent them ably? Youth representatives could add a valuable perspective and enliven board discussions. 

Another important point about students’ involvement at school board meetings is representation, not just of the views of young people, but those of an expanding, new-resident demographic as well. 

In most districts, Latino participation in top-level policy discussions has been absent. If a student board participant from a largely Spanish-speaking household were selected, he or she could help bridge that gap. Moreover, the message to the immigrant communities that now make up a significant percentage of the school and towns’ populations would be one of welcome. Greater involvement could also lead to other forms of local government participation over time. For example, Latinos have been barely a presence in any of the East End towns’ leadership groups despite being an important presence in the region for more than two decades.

The Parkland student activists already have proven that youth can shift public policy. Giving our local kids a chance to make their influence felt is something worth working for.

The Earth is getting warmer and fossil fuel-burning power plants have a lot to do with it. That is why those who study climate and government policies say alternative energy sources are essential in order to avoid massive upheavals. Given present technology, wind power, either from land-based or offshore windmills, is considered the best, fastest way to make a difference. 

Other nonpolluting options, such as nuclear and hydroelectric, are problematic. And in the Northeast, large-scale solar arrays are less commercially viable than elsewhere and have been met with bitter community backlash where proposed. There is no easy answer, but steps must be taken to slow the rapid rise of global temperature. This is why towns, such as East Hampton, and states, such as New York, have made commitments to renewable sources.

East Hampton Town officials, however, and in particular the town trustees, seem cowed by a small, but outspoken, number of residents who oppose Deepwater Wind’s proposed South Fork Wind Farm. The project calls for 15 generating turbines about 25 miles south of Point Judith, R.I., and 35 miles east of Montauk. A cable connecting the wind farm to the Long Island power grid is supposed to come ashore somewhere in East Hampton Town, passing either under the trustee beach at Wainscott or at one of two state-owned locations on Napeague. It would produce about 90 megawatts, said to be enough to supply electricity to about 50,000 houses, which is more than twice the total number of residential properties in the entire town.

In exchange for town easements, if the cable comes ashore in Wainscott, Deepwater Wind has promised deal-sweeteners, including paying to bury overhead utility lines on Beach Lane and Wainscott’s Main Street, $1.5 million for water-quality projects, and other substantial perks. Should the town continue to stonewall Deepwater, it could easily withdraw its offers and instead bring the cable across dry land in Napeague State Park or Promised Land, where no town permits are required. As a Deepwater report earlier this year said: Most local zoning laws are superseded by state utility regulations.

Regardless of whether the commercial fishing industry has misgivings about it, wind power appears here to stay. Turbines capable of generating 190 megawatts for Connecticut customers are in the planning stages for a site south of Martha’s Vineyard. Other states in the region are soliciting proposals for far larger projects, one for up to 1,100 megawatts. (The Millstone Nuclear Power Station, by comparison, produces about 2,000 megawatts, which powers about two million houses.)

It is difficult to support the position that wind power is not a necessary component of a cleaner-energy future. Officials, and in particular the town trustees, must recognize their limited say, and work with Deepwater Wind rather than against it.

Access and amenities at Boys and Girls Harbor could be improved soon. This is a good thing, but a word of caution is necessary first. East Hampton Town officials are studying the preservation fund-purchased former summer camp properties on Three Mile Harbor, about 83 acres in all, and talking about how the site could be made more inviting for the public. Among the ideas are a covered picnic pavilion and a paved bike trail. 

The last piece of Boys and Girls Harbor became town property in 2011 in a $7.3 million deal. Subsequently, the owners of some neighboring houses fought hard to get guarantees from the town that its future use would be limited. A petition from opponents of the town purchase at the time listed soccer, volleyball, basketball, and baseball, outdoor lighting, and problems with large crowds among their concerns. As such things go, a lawsuit ensued. Eventually, the town agreed to a restrictive management plan that allowed for educational activities, bicycling, informal sports, and trail walks. Other sports and after-dark events were taken off the table.

As to the improvements now proposed, a surfaced path for bicycles and wheelchairs is a no-brainer. A good portion of the sports field area at the former camp is level and would be, as some have pointed out, a great place to learn to ride a bike. We are less enthusiastic about the pavilion, however. 

At Maidstone Park, the only fair point of comparison, the town’s upkeep has been wanting. For example, some picnickers there toss charcoal and ashes nearby, and the sand surrounding the structure is often littered with broken glass. Plus, the grim, bunker-like restroom there is something not even a hardened prison official would be proud of. If the town puts in a picnic pavilion at Boys and Girls Harbor, bathrooms will not be far behind. 

And, while we are on the subject of bathrooms, when is Town Hall going to deal with one at Fresh Pond in Amagansett, which is a prime suspect in the ongoing fecal contamination of the creek there? That dank cinder-block structure, too, is nothing to boast about.

Unless the town can figure out a way to add staff to assure that its existing picnic areas are properly looked after, it has no business adding any more. Consider that town workers are already barely able to keep up with summertime beach trash. A new, out of the way property to maintain might prove too much of a burden without adding staff and vehicles. Town board members are deluding themselves if they think the extra garbage produced there would take care of itself.

At this point, no refuse-producing or bathroom-demanding uses should be approved at Boys and Girls Harbor. It is easy to build things; taking care of them is another story.

East Hampton Town needs a summer plan. Relatively recently, officials presented a set of hamlet-specific vision documents intended to guide redevelopment and new projects in the commercial centers with an eye toward a mix of business and residential needs and an emphasis on affordable living for workers. These studies were quite nice and contained some exciting ideas. What the hamlet plan authors did not do was look at the reality of East Hampton’s resort, day-trip, and short-term rental economy in a coherent way. As good as the study was, without acknowledging the transformations the town has undergone and offering some direction for the future, the work was only half done. Time is of the essence.

The reality is that East Hampton has changed from a mostly quiet place with summer rentals into a destination complete with a handful of reality-TV shows and a multitude of boldface names. Shoppers pour in to browse the village’s Main Street boutiques, most run by out-of-town companies that give nothing back to the community. Montauk draws thousands on sunny weekends for the beaches, fishing, and nightlife. Airbnb and other unregulated rental services bring in hundreds, if not an even greater number of visitors. As a result, roads, essential services, public spaces, and the general quality of life are affected negatively. And almost all of this is based on long-ago zoning decisions while officials went far too easy on violations, calling them in the obfuscating parlance of officialdom, pre-existing, nonconforming uses.

Now, having been either unwilling or unable to stem the flood, town officials are seeking to accommodate it, planning a costly sewage system for parts of Montauk, for starters, which will help lock in permanently the mistakes now in place. The authors of the hamlet studies more or less averted their gazes, proposing traffic circles and portable houses to deal with the influx but never trying to identify and deal with the root causes. It was not their fault, though, as direction comes from the top, in this case the well-meaning, if shortsighted, town board that commissioned the analyses. Remember, this was for the most part the same group that greenlighted the sandbagging of the Montauk beach, breaking the law in the process.

The lack of a long-term plan to deal with the summer hordes also comes down to residents, who for the most part have not spoken out as a whole about the changes to East Hampton wrought by its international renown. Until enough taxpayers raise their voices to say they want their town back, nothing is going to change. In fact, given the corporate money now backing many commercial projects, things could get a whole lot worse.

For lack of a better word, East Hampton needs a tourism master plan, which should be produced in conjunction with the Villages of East Hampton and Sag Harbor. This would address current conditions, including the maximum number of seasonal visitors possible under present rules, as well as the number that actually would be ideal. Considering development of the commercial centers in the absence of an overarching vision is a guarantee of failure.

Remember those giant “Welcome to New York” signs that appeared in Montauk two summers ago — only to be taken down after the public pointed out that they were not just ugly but totally pointless? They were part of a campaign funded by the state that was supposed to boost tourism by informing tourists who’d already arrived that, yes, you could eat and drink in New York, and visit unspecified “attractions,” and fill your days with delight by accessing an I ♥ NY app.

We didn’t know whether to laugh or kick something last month when we read in The New York Times that the remaining billboards from this boneheaded campaign — more than 500 of them still flank state highways — had cost taxpayers about $15,000 apiece . . . and the Federal Highway Administration was insisting they were illegal and had to go: “The hundreds of big blue ‘I ♥ NY’ signs that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had installed beside the state’s highways have cost more than $8 million,” The Times reported. “New York was given until Sept. 30 to bring the signage into compliance, or face a $14 million cut in federal funding for its roads and highways.”

The governor, who was quoted elsewhere as calling his pet-project signs “a tremendous success,” continued for a few weeks to insist they were fantastic before crying uncle. The New York State Department of Transportation announced that all the signs would either be reworked or taken down, their materials repurposed to reduce the material waste of this already wildly wasteful interlude.

Our thoughts now turn to the county and state-sponsored signage on our roadsides here in East Hampton. It has, we think, gotten out of hand. (How many times does a driver need to be alerted to the location of Cedar Point Park?) The “Litter Removal Next 1 Mile” signs alongside Montauk Highway are the worst. For starters, they’re not fooling anyone: Volunteer anti-trash activists pick up more garbage than the government crews funded by corporate sponsorship. These litter-removal signs are terrific advertising for the sponsors — making it look like Town Pond is the domain of Morgan Stanley and Woods Lane is affiliated with an “accounting and success consultancy” firm from Oyster Bay — but they’re not doing much for the rest of us. Who do we have to complain to to get them gone?

At long last, it feels like spring! The last few days have brought sunshine and warmth after many months of cold, dreary weather. Spring fever is very real; people are getting outside, enjoying the fresh air, soaking in a little vitamin D, and stretching their sea legs. But, as enticing as glistening waters may be to kayakers, paddleboarders, and the like, it is still dangerous out there. 

With water temperatures hovering around 45 degrees, the bays and harbors still pose a serious risk for those who find themselves unceremoniously submerged for even a short period. The water does not have to be frigid to cause symptoms of hypothermia at these temperatures, and it doesn’t take much time for them to set in. 

Boating season is still a way off. But year after year, we see paddle-sport enthusiasts venture out in cold waters without proper insulating gear, not to mention the required life vests. Just look at what happened off Orient Point about two weeks ago. 

A boat three men were taking from Port Jefferson to Shirley struck rocks and sank in Plum Gut during a windstorm. The current took two of the men away from the swamped boat. They were later pulled in and treated at a local hospital. Crew members aboard a Plum Island ferry pulled in the third man, who was in more serious condition and unable to assist in his rescue because of the brutal effect of the frigid water on his muscles. Hypothermia had set in.

Safety regulations for boaters are widely publicized, but less well known is that there are regulations for paddlers, too. While it might put a damper on an idealized notion of paddling on the bay unencumbered, the United States Coast Guard considers a life jacket, VHF-FM marine radio, and personal locator beacon essential equipment for paddlers. 

And, paddlers, please: Invest in a wetsuit, supporting your local surf shop while you’re at it. You will thank us if you fall in.

Every April since 1970, many Americans have celebrated Earth Day. While the holiday does not have the buildup of Christmas or the whoop-de-doo of the Fourth of July, it has become tradition in many places to take a hike, clean up roadsides and wrack lines, or take part in other outdoor activities. Numerous local organizations have laid on events this year, among them the South Fork Natural History Museum in Bridgehampton and the Nature Conservancy’s Mashomack Preserve on Shelter Island.

No mention of nature on the eve of Earth Day would be complete without noting the hard work by members of the Southampton and East Hampton Trails Preservation Societies, as well as state, county, and town workers, who keep the trails mapped and accessible, assuring access to beaches and waterways, sometimes in the face of strong opposition from waterfront property owners. Important, too, are all the voters, who have consistently supported open space preservation for decades.

The East End is an outdoors lover’s paradise. This Earth Day, let’s all make a pledge to get out there and enjoy it — and to pick up a few pieces of litter as we do.

Luis Marin-Castro’s arrest by federal agents while he was working in Wainscott on April 9 highlights the need for a rational immigration policy. Mr. Marin, 31, came to East Hampton from Ecuador as a child, attended high school here, graduated from Suffolk Community College, and was a valued employee, working his way up from bus boy to sommelier at Nick and Toni’s restaurant in East Hampton. Like many others who were not born here, however, he did not have legal status in this country, and, after pleading guilty to drunken driving about three years ago, ended up in the sights of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

Already, more than $50,000 had been contributed to a legal fund set up to try to win Mr. Marin’s release. This is a tremendous statement of support and good will. Donations can be made online at gofundme.com by searching for “Luis Marin.”

What passes for policy on immigration today can be summed up by President Donald Trump’s longed-for wall and the fact that he opened his campaign by stoking racist fears of rapists and “bad hombres” coming over the southern border. Sadly, the pitch worked. 

A recent analysis by scholars at the University of Massachusetts found that racism (as well as hostile sexism) correlated strongly with the likelihood of someone’s having voted for Mr. Trump for president, outweighing the economy, populism, and other variables. Separately, Google data show that searches with racist epithets or jokes soared nationwide during the presidential primary in areas that ended up going his way in November. It is notable that in recent polls as many as 57 percent of Americans believe the president is a racist.

It is difficult to draw an absolutely direct line from Mr. Trump to Luis Marin. However, enforcement actions have increased dramatically since the president was inaugurated and reports are that ICE will continue its aggressive ways. While apprehensions on the border initially dropped, arrests inside this country surged by almost half in 2017. 

Mr. Marin may be just a number to the White House, but here, he is a son, husband, and key employee. That makes it clear that the current United States immigration approach makes no sense. With statistically full employment, businesses from one end of the country to the other are desperate for workers. Mr. Marin, through no fault of his own, came here as a child and, but for one youthful and unfortunate brush with the law, for which he has long since made amends, has been a model member of the community. 

As we move rapidly toward the fateful midterm congressional elections, repairing the current immigration mess should be at the top of voters’ minds. Finding a way to officially welcome immigrants is a national priority. America needs more people like Luis Marin, not fewer.

A massive water cistern planned for the Amagansett woods has the potential neighbors upset. This is understandable, as the 900,000-gallon reservoir would be built above ground on a Suffolk County Water Authority well site only a short distance from the road. The water authority said it would paint the 30-foot-tall tank a pleasing shade of green in the hope that it would blend in with its surroundings. But the woods are a leafless gray half the year and deer have eaten away what would have been a cloaking understory. 

We sympathize with the residents of this part of Amagansett who do not want huge, unsightly infrastructure in their backyards. But the project points to a much greater concern about growth; the demand for services, whether water, electricity, or waste removal, rises along with the population. Town leaders and those in the nearby villages of Sag Harbor and East Hampton have failed to take action to slow, if not halt, development. More people means more services are needed, and things like the hulking water tank proposed for the Devon Colony area become all the more inevitable.

Few residents take a broad enough view to call for population limits, but that does not excuse local officials from neglecting to think beyond the next election. The natural and spatial resources of the South Fork are finite. Sure, we might build out every square inch, but the costs of doing so, as we are seeing already, are significant. The Devon reservoir is just a symptom of a much larger problem.