Thames River Basin Partnership Partners in Action Quarterly Report Autumn 2011 Volume 12 The Thames River watershed includes the Five Mile, French, Moosup, Natchaug, Pachaug, Quinebaug, Shetucket, Willimantic, and Yantic Rivers and all their tributaries. We’re not just the "Thames main stem." Greetings from the Thames River Basin Partnership. Once again this quarter our partners have proven their ability to work cooperatively on projects compatible with the TRBP Workplan and in support of our common mission statement to share organizational resources and to develop a regional approach to natural resource protection. I hope you enjoy reading about these activities as much as I enjoy sharing information about them with you. For more information on any of these updates, just click on the blue website hyperlinks in this e-publication, but be sure to come back to finish reading the rest of the report. Jean Pillo, Watershed Conservation Coordinator Eastern Connecticut Conservation District The fall meeting of the Thames River Basin Partnership was hosted by the Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Pomfret at their new Lois Orswell Grassland Bird Conservation Center. The official ribbon cutting ceremony for this education center was held on October 8, 2011. The energy efficient building is located on the footprint of a former dairy barn and it overlooks the 700 acre Bafflin Sanctuary. Much of the Bafflin Sanctuary is managed as grassland bird habitat. The Bafflin Sanctuary was donated to the Connecticut Audubon Society by Lois Orswell over a period of years in the 1990s. The new center, located at 218 Day Road in Pomfret Center, Connecticut is open Monday – Friday 9 AM – 4 PM and weekends from noon – 4 PM. Follow this link http://www.ctaudubon.org/center-at-pomfret for more CAS program information. TRBP Updates The Thames River Basin Partnership began preliminary discussions for the 2012 Floating Workshop and potential locations and themes. Below is a list of the eleven successful workshops previously held: 2001 – Thames River Estuary Dynamics/New London waterfront development - Thames River Cruise 2002 – Wastewater Dischargers in the Thames River – Thames River Cruise 2003 – Marine Transportation and Usage Issues – Thames River Cruise 2004 - Thames Water Quality and Area Conservation/Development Patterns - Thames River Cruise 2005 – USGS Study of West Thompson Lake – West Thompson Paddle 2006 – Smart Growth/Smart Conservation, Norwich Harbor - Thames River Cruise 2007 – “Rolling on the River” Shetucket River Dam Bus Tour 2008 - The Natchaug Watershed Basin, Water for People and Nature – Mansfield Hollow Paddle 1 2009 - Municipal Actions to Reduce Harmful Hypoxia in Long Island Sound – Thames River Cruise 2010 – Partnering to Protect Poquetanuck Cove – Poquetanuck Cove Paddle 2011 – Featuring the French River – Webster Lake Cruise If you are interested in joining the TRBP Floating Workshop Planning Committee, please contact Jean Pillo at 860-928-4948. Partner Reports The Eastern Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development Council and the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service are sponsoring a series of Healthy Soils Workshops to promote use of cover crops to improve soil health. These workshops will be held November 14, 15 and 16, 2011 at Scout Hall, 28 Abbe Road, East Windsor, CT. Registration for each workshop will begin at 8 AM and the program will end at 4:30 PM. Each day of this multiple day workshop will cover a different facet of land use, and topics will be directly relevant to the land use type of the day. Participants do not need to sign up for all three days. There is a $10 fee for each workshop Monday, November 14th -- Row Crops and Livestock Tuesday, November 15th – Perennial Crops (Orchard, Vineyard, Xmas Trees) and Greenhouse Growers Wednesday, November 16th – Small Scale Farming, the Residential Landscape, and Permaculture For More information, please contact Lisa Krall 860-871-4051 or Raymond Covino 860-774- 8397 x 102. To download a registration form, click this link http://easternrcd- ct.org/pdf/HEALTHYSOILS_Registration_2011.pdf. Avalonia Land Conservancy hosted a National Estuaries Day event at Poquetanuck Cove in celebration of a new environmental kiosk erected near the public access car top boat launch. This launch is at the end of Royal Oak Drive in Ledyard, CT. Funds for this kiosk were provided in part with Challenge Cost Funds through the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Connecticut Sea Grant and the Eastern Connecticut Conservation District developed educational information for the kiosk on the ecological value of intertidal mudflats. In addition, the Poquetanuck Cove Canoe/Kayak Trail Guide prototype developed for the Thames River Basin Partnership Floating Workshop IX was improved by USFWS staff and a limited number were printed on water resistant paper. To download a copy of this guide, click here. A coalition of land conservationists led by DEEP and the Avalonia Land Conservancy recently worked with the Crowley family of the Wequetequock section of Stonington to acquire a 16-acre coastal grassland on Wequetequock Cove in Stonington. The property is adjacent to DEEP's Barn Island Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Connecticut's largest and most ecologically significant coastal wildlife management area, and was part of the Crowley family's dairy farm operation which ceased in 1958. DEEP's coastal land conservation planning process identified 2 the Crowley property in 2005 as an acquisition priority to enhance the protection of the Barn Island WMA. For more information on this acquisition, go to the press release. The U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment program (NAWQA) regional study of nutrient concentrations and loads in rivers of the northeastern United States is nearly complete. This study includes the Connecticut, Housatonic, and Thames River basins, and will show the nutrient trends and loads in these rivers in a regional context. In addition, the USGS Connecticut Water Science Center is developing a project for real-time stream temperature data online for the Connecticut River Basin. Analysis is ongoing to compile and incorporate stream temperature data into a predictive model that includes all drainage basins in Connecticut. The Eastern Connecticut Conservation District completed their analysis and developed Watershed Based Plans for Mashamoquet Brook in Pomfret and Baker Cove in Groton. Both watersheds experience bacteria concentrations in excess of the allowable standards by the CT DEEP. In 2012, ECCD will be investigating the sources of excess bacteria in Flat Brook in Ledyard, and the sources of excess nutrients in Amos Lake in Preston. These projects are funded in part with EPA Clean Water Act § 319 Funds through the CT DEEP. After years of negotiations, the final signatures required for installation of the Hallville Fish Ladder in Preston was obtained by ECCD and construction of that project is being planned for spring 2012. With the installation of this fish ladder, 8.5 miles of historical breeding habitat and up to 158 acres of high quality ponded habitat will become available to anadromous fish upstream of Poquetanuck Cove. ECCD and Connecticut’s other 4 Conservation Districts are developing a potential partnership with the USDA NRCS to provide educational workshops for landowners and municipal officials, and technical assistance to agricultural operations to help them prevent soil erosion and nutrient NPS pollution. The project will also include the pursuit of Best Management Practices, recommended by existing watershed plans that will improve the water quality of Long Island Sound. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced the Long Island Sound Futures Fund projects that will receive funding this grant cycle. ECCD was awarded funds to work with the Towns of Ledyard and Preston and other partners to develop a Conservation Action Plan for Poquetanuck Cove. The Conservation Action Plan model was developed by The Nature Conservancy and recently was successfully implemented in the Natchaug River Watershed. For more information or to participate in this project, please contact Jean Pillo, ECCD’s Watershed Conservation Coordinator. ECCD will also be sharing in another LISFF project with the Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District and the Southwest Conservation District to Improve Equine Operation Nutrient Management in municipalities within the Connecticut Coastal Management Zone. A nonprofit established by Congress in 1984, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation sustains, restores and enhances the nation’s fish, wildlife, plants and habitats. Through leadership conservation investments with public and private partners, NFWF is dedicated to achieving maximum conservation impact. The Foundation has awarded over 10,800 grants to more than 3,700 organizations in the United States and abroad and leveraged – with its partners – more than 3 $490 million in federal funds into more than $1.6 billion for on-the-ground conservation. To learn more, visit www.nfwf.org. The Eastern Connecticut Conservation and Development Council is in the process of hiring a part time staff person to manage several ongoing projects. The ECRC&D Council is a non-profit organization that until recently worked with a NRCS staff coordinator until the federal RC&D program was discontinued by federal budget cuts. John Meyer, a participant in the Natchaug River Basin Conservation Compact process, produced a short movie titled For Grandchildren; the Natchaug River Basin Conservation