Historical Society to hold Cockenoe Island kayak tour

Westport Historical Society will host its third annual kayak tour to Cockenoe Island from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18, starting from Longshore Sailing School at Longshore Park, 260 Compo Road S. [READ MORE] (Westport News).

Chinese mitten crab found in Greenwich

Connecticut's first documented specimen of a highly invasive crab species native to eastern Asia was found at the end of June in Greenwich's Mianus Pond fishway. READ MORE (Stamford Advocate).

Artful stormwater management

A creative design for a stormwater facility that incorporates both function and aesthetics (reposted via the Water Environment Federation)

U.S. EPA announces Campus Rainworks Challenge

The U.S. EPA’s Office of Water is pleased to announce the Campus RainWorks Challenge for college and university students. EPA is inviting student teams to design an innovative green infrastructure project for their campus. Student teams will collaborate with a faculty advisor to develop design boards, a project narrative, and a short video describing their project. The winning teams will be awarded cash prizes as well as research funding.

Registration: September 4, 2012 – October 5, 2012
Entries Due: December 14, 2012
Winners Announced: April 22, 2013

Fly Fishing the Saugatuck River Watershed: From the Woods of Redding to the Beaches of Westport

Jeff Yates, author of Fly Fishing Fairfield County: Secrets of Suburban Streams and fourth-generation Wilton resident will discuss the wide range of fishing in the area, including stalking trophy trout, and seeking solitude and scenery on several native brook trout streams. The talk will cover recommended river access points and tactics for success.

Westport Historical Society
Betty and Ralph Sheffer Gallery
25 Avery Place, Westport, CT
Tuesday,  August 7,  7 – 8:30 pm
Suggested Donation: $5.00
READ MORE

Sunset kayak tour of the Saugatuck - TODAY

Jul y 13, 6:00 – 7:30pm
Meet at 5:30 pm at Downunder Kayaking
575 Riverside Avenue, Westport
$25 with your own kayak
$35 with a single rental & $50 double rental
For reservations, call 203-956-6217
Sponsored by the Westport Historical Society.  Learn more.

Plant Science Day August 1st, 2012

American Rivers report on water financing

American Rivers recently released a report following a series of interviews with water providers, finance experts, and NGOs about green infrastructure investment and implementation. The document provides a set of market-based strategies to optimize water financing for environmental as well as consumptive and wastewater uses:

Restoring Flows: Financing the Next Generation of Water Systems (American Rivers/Ceres, April 2012)

EPA Announces Framework to Help Local Governments Manage Stormwater Runoff and Wastewater

WASHINGTON - Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a new framework to help local governments meet their Clean Water Act obligations... (read more)

State of the Sound: Grading the Region's Efforts to Restore and Protect Long Island Sound

Save the Sound's Leah Schmalz will be presenting as part of the Westport Public Library's Sunset Lecture Series on the State of the Sound report. Refreshments will be served at 6:00 p.m. Leah will speak at 6:15 p.m. followed by a question and answer session at 6:45 p.m. For more information, visit www.westportlibrary.org
 
Thursday, June 28 from 6-8pm
20 Jesup Road, Westport, CT
(Add the event to your Google calendar)

Last call to submit photos for use in the Watershed Based Plan

AKRF is looking for photos of the Saugatuck River to use as illustrations in the Watershed Based Plan. Do you have a photo you would like to share? You can email it to akrfwaterresources@gmail.com.

The Sound and The Saugatuck

Have you ever wondered how the Saugatuck River shaped the history of Westport? The Westport Historical Society presents a new exhibit, The Sound and The Saugatuck, opening today, May 25th.

Stormwater management case studies

From the Landscape Architecture Foundation, this database includes a collection of stormwater management and stream restoration case studies, with photos and plans (the studies are easily sorted by project type).

Detention basin retrofits

Retrofitting existing detention basins for water quality control can be a simple, cost-effective way of treating nonpoint source pollution. Retrofits are usually designed to promote infiltration and release less water from the basin. This might include planting or re-grading the basin area, or modifying the outlet structure that controls the release of water. This video shows some great examples of the retrofit process for several different basins. Although shot in Pennsylvania, the basic concepts are applicable for Connecticut. (Source: StormwaterPA).

Calling all nature photographers!

AKRF is looking for photos of the Saugatuck River. If you have a great image that you'd like to see published in the Watershed Based Plan, send your photo to akrfwaterresources@gmail.com. We'd very much appreciate it! If you don't want your photo printed, you can still share it on the blog (see last week's post). As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

What's your favorite place in the watershed?

Through the course of the watershed based planning process, there has been a lot of discussion about impairments and problem areas in the river. But what about all the wonderful places that make this a river worth preserving? With spring in full bloom, now is the perfect time to get out and reconnect with all the places in nature that make our role as environmental stewards so rewarding.

When AKRF was conducting the existing conditions assessment last spring, we snapped this picture of a spring wildflower (bloodroot) found growing just off a trail in the Saugatuck Falls Natural Area. It reminded us that beauty is abundant throughout the watershed, and available to anyone who takes a moment to look.

What about you? Do you have a favorite place for fishing or birdwatching? Do you have a photo that visually represents the scenic or environmental value of this important river? If so, we'd love to see or hear about it!

Fly Fishing Fairfield County

Local author pens fly fishing guide to Fairfield County (Danbury Patch)

DEEP 2012 preseason trout stocking underway

Opening Day of trout season is Saturday, April 21st!

New approaches to municipal and industrial wastewater

Re-posted from Seth Brown of the Water Environment Federation, an encouraging article: "When Cookie Cutters Won't Cut It".

Eel migration news

Eel news, from the Byram River but regionally relevant:

Trapped baby eels to get a helping hand in Greenwich (CT Post)

Coyotes in New York City

Coyotes in New York City: A Bonus? (From NYT blog)

Spring Coastal Cleanup Dates

The Connecticut Fund for the Environment has scheduled spring cleanup dates up and down Long Island Sound beaches. View their schedule for dates and locations.

Outreach & Education Guidelines

AKRF is in the process of drafting education & outreach strategies for the watershed-based plan. We wanted to share this EPA guidance that we've found very useful:

Getting in Step: A Guide for Conducting Watershed Outreach Campaigns (USEPA 2003).

EPA Green Infrastructure Technical Assistance

"This request for letters of interest (RLI) announces the availability of direct assistance (through EPA contract support) for projects that facilitate the use of green infrastructure to protect water quality. Technical assistance will be directed to watersheds/sewersheds with significant water quality degradation associated with urban stormwater. Assistance may be offered to communities with any level of green infrastructure implementation." See the request for letters of interest.

Useful Reference: Ecoregional Nutrient Criteria

The USEPA has established recommended nutrient criteria for rivers and streams in fourteen ecoregions across the country. Criteria for the Eastern Coastal Plain were established in 2000; these criteria are meant as general guidance, and should be adjusted and refined based on regional or state-specific conditions. While CT DEEP currently maintains narrative rather than numeric water quality standards for nutrients, this document may be a useful reference for watershed managers interested in developing instream monitoring programs.

Weekend Reading

• From the NRDC, some excellent case studies & reference material
• The ruling on the NY State MS4 permit case, or if you're in a hurry, a summary of the case from Stormwater magazine.

Annual Meeting of the CT Association of Wetland Scientists

This year's program: "Monitoring Wetlands and Watercourses: Methods and Benefits"

Thursday March 22, 2012
8:15 am to 4:30 pm
Holiday Inn in North Haven
201 Washington Avenue, North Haven, CT

For the Copper River, a Geospatial Tool for Mapping Culverts

The Copper River Watershed Project based in Cordova, Alaska uses this handy geospatial tool  to identify culverts that are blocking fish passage, and to prioritize sites in need of modification (part of the Copper River Knowledge System). Would something like this be useful for the Saugatuck?

Social Change Website Examples

In order to move forward with implementation and education strategies for the Watershed-based Plan, it's important to consider how goals are understood by the public and to what extent residents and businesses can be motivated to participate in stewardship. Good PR requires simple communication of sometimes complicated scientific concepts. We'd like to share a few examples of conservation websites we've found that do an especially good job of distilling their message:

• Be Floridian
• Florida Wildlife Corridor
• Visit My Forest
• Save Sand Hill Lakes

The Economic Impact of State Parks, Forests and Natural Resources

Following last week's post, a related (and local) example of the economic value of open space. According to CTDEEP and Uconn's Center for Economic Analysis (CCEA), "...outdoor activities on state lands have an economic impact of more than $1 billion a year."  Read More...

Environmental Regulations and Jobs

Environmental regulations don't necessarily depress the job market, according to a new study by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation: http://www.northernnecknews.com/?p=517

Implementation Measures and Education

Many of the implementation measures outlined in the watershed-based plan could potentially be coupled with educational programs through school partnerships and volunteering. For example, a rain garden constructed at or near a school could serve as a demonstration site for educators, and could be maintained and monitored throughout the year by students. Local nature centers or environmental organizations could partner with school teachers to provide watershed education as part of basic science classes.

Trout Unlimited's Trout in the Classroom was suggested at the recent stakeholder meeting as a resource for both teachers and watershed advocates. The program provides lesson plans and a web resources library to engage students in ecosystem and habitat studies as they relate to the individual fish and to the wider watershed. The program includes raising the trout from eggs to fry in a classroom tank, where students monitor water quality and learn about trout habitat; at the end of the year students can release their trout into a state-approved stream.

Learn more about the program: http://www.troutintheclassroom.org/

Blair Mill Elementary School in Horsham Township, PA recently partnered with AKRF to design, install, and monitor a series of small stormwater management wetlands and riparian plantings. A watershed education program was developed with the help of Trout Unlimited's resources. Learn more about this project, and see the design concept.

What other established programs exist to help watershed managers engage local schools? How have others in the watershed used management efforts to promote community education?