There’s an incentive program most Long Island homeowners don’t know about and it works with things you may already be planning for your year. It also closes October 31st.

The Long Island Garden Rewards Program reimburses Nassau and Suffolk County property owners up to $500 for making their yards more water-friendly. Rain barrels, rain gardens, native plant gardens, basically projects that capture stormwater before it runs off your property carrying nitrogen into local waterways and, eventually, into your drinking water.

Here’s why it matters: nitrogen is the leading cause of water quality problems on Long Island. It fuels toxic algal blooms, kills fish, degrades wetlands, and contaminates the groundwater that is the sole source of drinking water for all of Nassau and Suffolk County. Every yard that holds onto its own rainwater is one less source feeding that cycle.

The program covers up to $125 per rain barrel and up to $500 for rain gardens or native plantings with free technical assistance available from your county’s Soil and Water Conservation District and Cornell Cooperative Extension to help you figure out what works for your property. It’s first-come, first-served, so once the funding’s gone, it’s gone.

Small thing with a real impact (and a deadline) worth knowing about.