2020 Newsletter

A MESSAGE FROM YOUR EXECUTIVE BOARD

Dear Friends of Lake Lillinonah:

We are assembling this newsletter in early April, during the height of the Covid19 pandemic. Schools are empty, non-essential businesses shuttered; family, friends and neighbors are staying home, filled with concern about what has happened, everybody uncertain about what lies ahead. Hopeful that our great country will once again prevail, we can only listen carefully to our doctors and leaders to keep each other safe and shorten the pathway towards resolution and safety.

And yet, we can peer out our windows and take a long look at our wonderful Lake Lillinonah. It still flows, full of life. Its shores will soon be the bright fresh green of springtime. We hear the birds; busy as always. The rain, the wind, the sunshine; they’re there as they have always been, to remind us that although we face changes as a result of this difficult challenge, much remains the same. It is this same-ness that should comfort us with the knowledge that we will soon again be outside enjoying this beautiful lake and the family and friendships that we have.

Please stay well and safe; enjoy our newsletter and let us know of any suggestions or comments you have. We also encourage you to share this newsletter with your friends & neighbors as this is a wonderful example of the strength of our lake community, and the work that Friends of the Lake is accomplishing with your continued support.

We’ll see you soon! Your Executive Board

2020 Friends of the Lake Newsletter: Please forward this report on to your friends & neighbors to 1 showcase what FOTL is doing alongside our strong lake community FEATURED EVENTS Be sure to mark your calendars & visit our website for more information! *Events pending state and country approval due to corona virus current restrictions* Over the past 17 years, this organization June 2020 Pulling Party & has worked incredibly hard to clean up the lake, taking more than 30 27th Pancake Breakfast dumpsters of debris out of the lake! Due to our efforts, we are going to bypass our traditional RT 133 clean up and shift all focus to a newer issue that needs our attention, Water Chestnuts. This year (2020) we are going to move the event to Addis Park in New Milford and have Kayaks & Pontoon boats focus on the removal of the water chestnuts as they bloom in June. We are also going to enhance this event by adding some additional social elements to make it more fun for all those who help, with a full Pancake breakfast (and free t shirts) for all those who volunteer their time!

July Community BBQ 25th We have received some great feedback over the years about the dine-around! In 2020, we are going to test a new concept that will allow all members of FOTL to gather in one location and enjoy the afternoon/evening in a larger group setting & meet more neighbors & friends. We are eager to test this new concept and collect member’s preference for this vs the traditional Dine-Around! More to follow as we get closer!

Aug Anniversary Sept Debris 17th Party! 12th Survey

2 2020 Friends of the Lake Newsletter: Please forward this report on to your friends & neighbors to showcase what FOTL is doing alongside our strong lake community MEMBERSHIP

We currently are proud to have 209 members (2019) among us. Though that is lower than the 229 members we had in 2018, we know of many long- time members who have moved away. Please take a moment to think of your neighbors; are they new to our lake? If so, please let them know about our organization. Feel free to forward this newsletter, of course. Board member Angela Macchiarulo reports that she has reached out to our area schools, who have expressed enthusiastic interest in getting involved in our projects. She has contacted guidance counselors, who assured her that many students are involved in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programs and would love a chance to earn their required community service hours for graduation by working with us. The early closure of schools this year will put a dent in this effort, but we will continue to pursue getting our community aware and involved in our programs and events.

As a reminder, please renew your membership for 2020 today if you haven’t done so already. Your membership can be renewed online at www.friendsofthelake.org. Thank you!

WATER QUALITY

Board member Steve Bowman reports that the Barkwood Falls Association is in it’s third and final year of their permit to treat milfoil with diquat in selected areas of the lake, paid for by private funding and not associated with FOTL. They have also filed a permit application for the next three years. There are several new chemical products that may be longer-lasting and more effective than diquat, with less harmful side effects. We are continuing our research to arrive at a safe and effective solution to the milfoil invasion. (continued on page 4)

2020 Friends of the Lake Newsletter: Please forward this report on to your friends & neighbors to showcase 3 what FOTL is doing alongside our strong lake community WATER QUALITY (continued)

The following information is provided by board member Rebekah White, who continues to work diligently on many projects to improve the water quality of Lake Lillinonah:

Most of us are well aware of the variety of issues involving the water quality of our lake, including nutrient loading, invasive aquatic plants (milfoil, water chestnut and curly-leaf pondweed), and zebra mussels. FOTL has a new partnership with Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) to address nutrient loading. FOTL is committed to continuing our water quality monitoring efforts. We are also continuing to explore the control of milfoil though biological methods. We continue to monitor the zebra mussel population and participate in the CT DEEP Rifle Bioassessment by Volunteers (RBV) program. All of these efforts are made in the interest of improving the water quality of Lake Lillinonah while continuing to stand on our principle of using a science-based approach in order to find safe and reasonable solutions while maintaining our credibility among fellow stakeholders of our watershed.

The Water Quality committee is excited to announce that our water quality monitoring efforts are paying off. The CT DEEP has started a new approach for looking at water quality in CT called ‘Integrated Water Resource Management.’ In order to improve water quality, it must first be determined how much nutrient can enter a water body without causing a negative effect. It is similar to our personal intake of food; we can all enjoy a piece of cake now and then but eating a whole cake daily would inevitably cause our health to deteriorate. And, just as each of us has different tolerances for food intake, bodies of water also have different tolerances. For example, a lake with few freshwater inputs and long residence times for water will be less tolerant of nutrient loading than a lake that behaves a lot like a river, like our Lillinonah. The CT DEEP has selected a few waterbodies to model and calculate the nutrient loading, and they have chosen Lake Lillinonah thanks to the years of water quality data they can use to input into their models. In addition to Lillinonah, they are studying which is in the Shepaug Watershed, and I believe they are also looking at data from , which feeds into the Housatonic Watershed through the Aspetuck River. CT DEEP will utilize these data to create an action plan for the selected waterbodies in the form of a ‘Total Maximum Daily Load’ (TMDL) target. The TMDL will give us the ‘diet’ goals for Lillinonah, in order to prioritize projects and their funding. We are scheduling a presentation by Traci Lott, the CT DEEP representative coordinating this project to give a presentation to our members as soon as public meetings are once again allowed. We will notify all members through our email alert system once a date is chosen.

2020 Friends of the Lake Newsletter: Please forward this report on to your friends & neighbors to showcase 4 what FOTL is doing alongside our strong lake community WATER QUALITY (continued)

This season the water quality committee, in conjunction with Dr. Jen Klug of Fairfield University, will continue our water quality monitoring utilizing the GLEON buoy, the Citizen Led Environmental Observatory (CLEO), EPA cyanoMonitoring, EPA cyanoScope, and in-lake monitoring with the handheld sonde. We visit the GLEON buoy once a month to clean off biofouling, calibrate the buoy sonde (water quality probe), collect comparative water quality data with the handheld sonde, and collect water samples for nutrient and toxin testing. CLEO is our dock monitoring program that utilizes our members to collect data from different areas of the lake three times per week between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The EPA programs analyze water collected at four sites on the lake to help determine the type and species of algae present. During the visit to collect water for the EPA program we also collect data with the handheld sonde. We plan to go out every two weeks for this program but could increase it to weekly with additional volunteer help. In addition to monitoring Lake Lillinonah, we have partnered with the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA) to assist them in weekly monitoring efforts on the Still River. CLEO training will be held on a Saturday morning in late April, if possible. Let us know if you are interested in joining the program. Your dock may be an ideal location, and we are always looking for substitutes to cover on days when our regular monitors may be unavailable. Anyone can be trained on the EPA program too, so please contact us if you are interested in learning and helping. The water chestnut and curly-leaf pondweed in our lake is being addressed by the Lake Lillinonah Authority (LLA) by hiring a contractor to hand-pull it. The contractor will also pull the dense patches of curly leaf located up near the Lover’s Leap gorge. During our annual Save the Lake Day (now called the ‘Pulling Party & Pancake Breakfast) on June 27th, FOTL will be focusing our volunteer energy to remove the water chestnut located in the Still River between the waterfall and the confluence of the Still River and . Prior to the 27th we will be looking to conduct our own GIS aquatic survey in that area to assist in quantifying our efforts. Although we would like to think our efforts this year would be enough to eradicate the water chestnut, the sad truth is that this will be a multi-year effort and the survey to quantify our efforts can be utilized to obtain funding for future control efforts while serving as a tool to help other lakes manage their invasions. The HVA has committed to helping us with these removal efforts. A formal event to address a large patch of water chestnut in a cove off the Housatonic River behind the Cookhouse in New Milford has not been solidified, but this is another area of concern we are looking into in conjunction with HVA.

2020 Friends of the Lake Newsletter: Please forward this report on to your friends & neighbors to showcase 5 what FOTL is doing alongside our strong lake community WATER QUALITY (continued)

The milfoil cannot be effectively controlled in the lake through hand pulling efforts but hand pulling may be effective in novel or targeted small populations. To control the milfoil FOTL is trying and studying biological control methods. We will be bringing back the weevil culturing program this season. We have six tanks purchased last year with grant money provided by FirstLight Power Resources (FLP), in addition to the 100-watt solar panel, pumps, shade cloth, and donated battery that will allow us to double our culturing efforts from last year. These tanks will be used to breed weevils that will feed on a large area of milfoil located near the Southbury town launch. In addition, we have three 29-gallon tanks and a couple of plug-in pumps that can be utilized at volunteer homes to culture weevils on a smaller scale. Please contact us if you would like to try raising weevils! We continue our research on the triploid grass carp as a solution to our milfoil infestation. Board member Greg Bollard is working with Dr. Theodora Pinou at Western CT State University (WCSU) to conduct a carp tracking research project, similar to the one conducted on .

Although not conducted by FOTL, one of our lake residents reported success in controlling a smaller milfoil patch last season with a benthic barrier. If anyone is considering this method this season, let us know and we might be able to arrange an on-lake training session conducted by Dr. Gregory Bugbee of the CT Agricultural Extension Center. He performed one at another lake in CT last season.

In prior years FOTL participated in the CT DEEP RBV program by collecting macroinvertebrates (insect larvae large enough to be visible) from tributary streams in the Lake Lillinonah watershed to assist CT DEEP in assessing the health of those streams. Unfortunately, mother nature has not always been on our side in the past few years by providing enough flow or flow in moderation to allow effective and safe collection. We have a dedicated trainer for this program and will look for volunteers this fall to assist us in collecting data from as many streams as possible. This program can be performed by individuals of all ages and capabilities. Please consider joining us this fall for one morning to further assist us in understanding the health of our watershed tributaries.

When zebra mussels were first reported in Lake Lillinonah, WCSU introduced a monitoring program to measure the zebra mussel population. This project ended in 2014 due to the time-consuming task of counting individual zebra mussels on the monitoring plates. We have all observed variations in the colonization and growth of the zebra mussels from year to year and spring to fall. With a structured monitoring program, we can record and quantify our observations. We can then compare the growth observations with weather and lake conditions to understand what may be affecting their growth and population so that we can utilize stressful conditions to capitalize on control methods when they are most 6 2020 Friends of the Lake Newsletter: Please forward this report on to your friends & neighbors to showcase what FOTL is doing alongside our strong lake community WATER QUALITY (continued)

stressed. We will start the program this year with a few monitoring stations and look to partner with an educational institution in the future.

These programs all require funding and volunteer time. Friends of the Lake would like to thank you all for your membership and generous donations of both money and time. We have been successful but wish to grow our efforts! We will continue to seek grant funding and utilize fund raising events to expand this valuable research. In addition to these projects, we have a wish list of other events and projects we are considering. The more information we obtain, the more effective we can be at improving our water quality. Please consider sharing this information with anyone that may want to learn more about water quality and conservation. Anyone of any ability can assist us in our efforts. Please contact us today at [email protected] or [email protected] with your interests and availability, and again, thank you!

LAKE LILLINONAH AUTHORITY

LLA Chainman, Shannon Young has kindly provided this year’s update: The LLA is seeking a volunteer member from Southbury to fill a vacancy. Please reach out to the LLA if you are interested! We also are looking forward to the official opening of our new Marine Patrol Facility this year, date TBD. This year the LLA will be stocking the lake with Large Mouth Bass and Tiger Muskie. The LLA will collaborate with fishing clubs to determine the best locations. Here are excerpts from the annual report provided to the area towns by the LLA:

“This has been a wonderful year for the Lake Lillinonah Authority. This year was our first year for our Marine Patrol at our new location in Brookfield. It has been a terrific success. The town of Brookfield graciously allowed us to construct a new facility on a town owned property called Lillinonah Woods. It's very close to the route 133 bridge. We have a private gated road for our employees to access our new facility. It includes a new storage shed, seasonal fuel storage and dispensing facility, and docks for our three Marine Patrol craft.

This has been made possible through several generous contributions from First Light Power. We are very grateful for this and having such a strong relationship with them in our community.

Lake levels this year were relatively consistent throughout the year in part due to a dry summer and no hurricanes. There was a relatively low amount of woody debris on the lake. All lake users still need to be aware of debris at all times. Debris is and will always 7 2020 Friends of the Lake Newsletter: Please forward this report on to your friends & neighbors to showcase what FOTL is doing alongside our strong lake community LAKE LILLINONAH AUTHORITY (continued)

Debris is and will always be a normal part of our lake so be careful- it's a river!

This year started off slow with the zebra mussels. As the season progressed, they seemed to establish a strong population throughout the lake.

We continue to have a strong population of milfoil in the usual areas. The LLA is supportive of non- chemical management practices for milfoil control. We are excited to learn of the success of our neighbors in Candlewood lake with the use of grass carp. We continue to evaluate all methods of weed control in our lake. Two lake communities have used chemical herbicides to control milfoil in 2019. The Lake Authority continues to closely observe the DEEP permitting process for herbicide applications.

We direct a lot of resources on the manual removal of two other invasive species, Water Chestnut and Curly Leaf Pondweed. Our lake neighbors do a lot to combat this intrusion as well. Through this strong effort we hope to resist the establishment of a nuisance population of these species. So far, our efforts are successful. It would only take one year off and we would be in real peril.

Overall Lillinonah saw good water quality and very little algae bloom this year.

After two years of loaning our fourth patrol vessel to the Candlewood Fire Department the Lake Authority has sold our oldest patrol vessel.

The Lake Authority continues to stock Tiger Muskie and Northern Pike. We plan on stocking Bass in 2020 as well.

The Lake Lillinonah Authority meets on the first Tuesday of each month in the Brookfield Town Hall at 7:30 pm. We would love to see you there. “

DEBRIS SURVEY RESULTS

The following report was issued by Connwood Foresters, who is retained each year by FOTL to train our volunteers and develop our annual summary report. Based on this report and our collective observation, the woody debris problem of Lake Lillinonah appears to be improving. While boaters should always be on the lookout for floating debris, the efforts of FirstLight Power do seem to be having a positive effect on the presence of floating debris in Lake Lillinonah. We wish to thank FLP and encourage them to continue the removal program as expeditiously as possible. Special thanks to board member George Walker for organizing this annual effort, and to the many volunteers who gathered this vital data. 8 2020 Friends of the Lake Newsletter: Please forward this report on to your friends & neighbors to showcase what FOTL is doing alongside our strong lake community DEBRIS SURVEY RESULTS (continued)

Summary of Lake Lillinonah Shoreline Woody Debris

On 9/14/2019 volunteers collected woody debris data for 41 sample plots along the shore of Lake Lillinonah. Volunteers traveled to each sample plot by boat. Sample plots were randomly located and evenly distributed around the shore of the lake (~4600’ spacing). Plots were mapped with ArcView GIS and then the lat/long coordinates of these plots were located and flagged on 9/11/2018. The 41 plots are a 2% sample of the total length of the shore (39.5 miles). These are the same plot locations as 2014-2017; but new plot locations from the 2012 and 2013 [surveys] and are located roughly halfway between the old plot locations.

Each plot consists of 100’ of shoreline from the water’s edge to the high-water mark. At each plot the following was recorded: average plot width, adjacent land use, the dimensions of all woody debris whose large end falls within plot, dimensions of all woody piles whose center falls within plot, and the decay class of each piece/pile. Pieces must have a small diameter of more than 1” and have over a half foot of length to be recorded. Forks off a main tree stem are tallied as separate pieces. Methods are based on USDA Forest Service Guidelines: “Sampling Protocol, Estimation, and Analysis Procedures for the Down Woody Materials Indicator of the FIA Program Report NRS-22” Results: - Adjacent Land Use: 6 residential plots (15%) and 35 forested plots (85%) – assumed same as last year - Plot Size: Plots averaged 7’ wide and total sampled plot area was 28,300 sqft. – assumed same as last year - Plot Debris: 663 pieces having 1,131 cubic feet of material, with an average of 1.7 cuft/piece - Piles: 25 piles having 304 cubic feet of material, with an average of 12 cuft/pile - Entire Lake: 73,025 cubic feet of material in 33,743 pieces and 1,272 piles

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Shore Feet 208,666 208,666 208,666 208,666 208,666 208,666 208,666 208,666

Plots 40 41 41 41 41 41 41 41 Sample Feet 4,000 4,100 4,100 4,100 4,100 4,100 4,100 4,100

Lake Cuft 101,041 81,328 123,882 114,882 167,982* 246,320** 95,321 73,025

Lake Pieces 104,750 91,050 68,453 43,922 47,077 36,338 48,960 33,743

Lake Piles 574 1,171 3,512 2,443 1,934 2,545 1,323 1,272

* Year 2016 large increase in debris volume is entirely the result of an increase in the average volume per pile from 23 cuft/pile in 2015 to 58 cuft/pile this year. The number of piles actually decreased from 2443 in 2015 to 1934 this year. The amount of 'Individual Piece' debris had a slight decrease from 2015 (59,453 cuft to 56,363 cuft). ** Year 2017 large increase in debris volume is entirely the result of an increase in the average volume per pile from 23 cuft/pile in 2015 to 73 cuft/pile this year. This increase is due to four very large piles that were recorded in coves in the south end of the lake. Without these piles, the average volume per pile is 18 cuft and the total lake volume drops to 106,666 cuft. The amount of 'Individual Piece' debris had only a slight increase from 2015 (59,453 cuft to 60,190 cuft).

2020 Friends of the Lake Newsletter: Please forward this report on to your friends & neighbors to showcase 9 what FOTL is doing alongside our strong lake community DANBURY WASTEWATER TREATMENT

Board member Jeff Tinley has been instrumental in keeping us informed of the latest news regarding the upgrade to the Danbury wastewater treatment facility. Although there is no ‘new’ news, Jeff provided this interesting news:

There is some old news that hasn’t been widely circulated, such as the fact that the redesign of the plant will reduce the overall capacity because the participating towns are not using all of their allocated capacity. The following is from an AP article that is several years old:

“When the plant was last updated in 1993, it was designed to handle up to 15.5 million gallons per day. But water conservation measures have been so successful that today only about 9 million gallons are treated each day. For that reason, Day said, engineers decided to reduce capacity in the upgrade to 11.5 million gallons a day. “What we don’t want to do is build a tank for 15.5 million gallons per day and never realize that flow,” Day said. Both Brookfield and Danbury accordingly agreed to reduce their waste limits by 25 percent or more. Danbury will now send no more than 8.87 million gallons per day to the facility, as compared to 12.7 million gallons today, and Brookfield can send 380,000 gallons each day instead of 500,000. Newtown, Bethel and Ridgefield declined to reduce their flow limits, and will pay more for the privilege, Day said. Nelson Malwitz, chairman of the Brookfield Water Pollution Control Authority, said the town averages about 290,000 gallons each day. He said that flow has held steady over the past eight years, despite continued development, because senior citizens spend winters out of town and residents are more environmentally conscious about using too much water. “Social and demographic factors are at play to have the capacity be less worrisome,” he said.”

2020 Friends of the Lake Newsletter: Please forward this report on to your friends & neighbors to showcase 10 what FOTL is doing alongside our strong lake community