New York
Recipient: New York City Department of Parks and Recreation Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $50,000 Federal Funds: $17,000 Non-Federal Funds: $33,000 Matching Funds: $103,509 Total Project Costs: $153,509 Project Area: New York, New York
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation will install a 12,000 square-feet green roof projected to capture 300,951 gallons of stormwater annually. The intensive green roof will be used as a pilot demonstration area to be reproduced in other parks buildings.
Highly-urbanized environments like New York City are comprised of hard impervious materials covering more than 60 percent of the landscape. Impervious surface coverage of 15 to 20% or greater of the total land in a watershed is linked to dramatic changes in shape of streams, water quality, water temperature, and the health of the insects, amphibians and fish that live in these streams. Green roofs can help ease this problem because they absorb, filter and recycle rainwater containing common pollutants including heavy metals from car exhaust fumes. Greenroofs can retain upwards of 70% of rain water. When a green roof reaches full saturation from rain, excess water slowly percolates through the vegetation layer to a drainage outlet. The soil layer traps sediments, leaves and other particles, treating runoff before it reaches sewer outlets. Only about 25% of water becomes runoff, but because this runoff occurs several hours after the peak flow of rainwater it is less polluted. The US Environmental Protection Agency report Reducing Stormwater Costs through Low Impact Development Strategies and Practices recommends green roofs be used to help protect and restore water quality.
Project partners include the GreenApple Corps a job training and public service initiative focused on green-collar job training providing 18-24 year old economically-disadvantaged youth in a variety of work and learning experiences associated with the environment.
Recipient: New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Long Island Region Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $30,000 Federal Funds: $30,000 Non-Federal Funds: 0 Matching Funds: $30,000 Total Project Costs: $60,000 Project Area: Alfred E. Smith Sunken Meadow State Park, Kings Park, New York
The New York State Office of Parks will create a model of tidal flow volume aimed at identifying the best alternative to restore salt marsh and underwater habitat for anadromous and resident fish in Sunken Meadow Creek.
Sunken Meadow Creek within Sunken Meadow State Park is on of the largest tributaries of the Nissequoque River. Once a healthy tidally dominated river system, the area was diked in the 1940s. Since that time, the changed hydrology of limited tidal flows has been a bottleneck to fish and resulted in growth of noxious invasive plants hostile to wildlife. The goal of the project is reintroduction of tidal flow across the current dike to provide access for fish. Restoration of tidal flow would reconnect approximately 73-acres of vegetated wetland and 38-acres of underwater wetlands to daily tidal flushing that will also help improve water quality into the Long Island Sound.
Project partners include: the Environmental Defense Fund, Trout Unlimited, the Long Island Botanical Society, the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and the Coast Institute.
Recipient: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $75,000 Federal Funds: $33,900 Non-Federal Funds: $41,100 Matching Funds: $47,070 Total Project Costs: $122,070 Project Area: Plum Island and Great Gull Island Estuary, Town of Southold, New York
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County will restore 1.25 acres of historic eelgrass beds with the aim of ensuring survival in the face of climate change, sea-level rise and other threats.
Restoration of submerged aquatic vegetation such as eelgrass has been identified as a priority in the Long Island Sound Study Habitat Restoration Initiative. This project is an expansion of an ongoing eelgrass restoration initiative in Long Island Sound. Prior project work has included establishing a 3-acres at St. Thomas Point and Terry Point in Southold. Project partners include the Division of Natural Resources, Town of Southold.
Recipient: County of Nassau, Department of Public Works Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $72,000 Federal Funds: $20,000 Non-Federal Funds: $52,000 Matching Funds: $66,900 Total Project Costs: $138,900 Project Area: Glen Cove, New York
Nassau County will seed 2-million shellfish and monitor survival of the seedlings to repopulate Hempstead Harbor with this historically abundant fishery.
Before this seeding effort begins, four plots will be created near the main planting sites. The plots will be monitored for rates of survival during the year. The project builds on a prior seeding effort of 1.2 million clams and 500,000 oysters in Hempstead Harbor. Hempstead Harbor has been partially or totally closed to shellfishing since the 1930s as a result of industrial and stormwater pollution. Recent improvements in water quality in the harbor provide some opportunity to restore the beds. A healthy shellfish population promises to further improve water quality through the natural filtration capacity of the species as well as restoring a vanished part of the Long Island Sound ecosystem and marine heritage.
Project partners include: the Towns of Oyster Bay and North Hempstead, Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor. The initiative to restore this part of the Long Island Sound ecology is the result of regional partnerships in water quality management under the Stormwater Coalition a 56-member intermunicipal coalition that works to reduce stormwater contamination across the county.
Recipient: Village of Sea Cliff, Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $35,000 Federal Funds: $17,000 Non-Federal Funds: $18,000 Matching Funds: $53,000 Total Project Costs: $88,000 Project Area: Glen Cove, Sea Cliff, Glenwood Landing, Rosyln Harbor, Rosyln, Flower Hill, Port Washington, and Sands Point, New York
The Village of Sea Cliff will implement the annual water quality monitoring program for Hempstead Harbor in concert with municipal and nongovernmental partners of the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor (CSHH).
Since 1992, The CSHH has been conducting weekly sampling aiming to protect and improve the water quality of the harbor. The accumulation of 16 years of data is actively used by municipalities to gauge overall progress towards improving conditions in the harbor and to pinpoint areas for improvement. The CSHH is comprised of Town of North Hempstead, Town of Oyster Bay, Nassau County Department of Health, Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee, University of Connecticut, Marine Sciences Department, and the Nassau County Marine Police.
Recipient: Friends of the Bay, Inc. Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $15,000 Federal Funds: $15,000 Non-Federal Funds: $0 Matching Funds: $69,000 Total Project Costs: $84,000 Project Area: Town of Huntington/Town of Oyster Bay, New York
The Friends of the Bay will identify priorities actions to protect and improve the Oyster Bay/Cold Spring Harbor Watershed.
The Watershed Action Plan will lead to implementation of actions that: 1) minimize health risks associated with human consumption of shellfish and finfish, 2) ensure opportunities for water dependent recreational activities in concert with ecosystem management, 3) ensure that social and economic benefits associated with use of the Sound are realized, 4) preserve and enhance the physical, chemical and biological integrity of the Sound, and 5) establish a water quality policy that supports the health and habitats of the living resources of the Sound. The plan will review: water resources, freshwater and coastal wetlands, land use, fish and wildlife resources and habitat, and pollutant source identification.
The watershed hosts a National Wildlife Refuge; two New York State Significant Coastal Fish and Wildlife Habitats; and is highlighted by the Long Island Sound Study Stewardship Initiative. Its waters are classified among the highest quality areas for shellfishing. While the Oyster Bay/Cold Spring Harbor Complex is the cleanest estuary in the western Long Island Sound there are areas within the estuary complex with poor water quality such as Mill Neck Creek where shellfish harvesting, swimming, fish consumption, habitat/hydrology, aquatic life and recreation are impaired.
Recipient: Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $33,000 Federal Funds: $16,000 Non-Federal Funds: $17,000 Matching Funds: $36,000 Total Project Costs: $39,000 Project Area: Huntington-Northport Harbor and Nissequogue River Watershed, New York
Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County will develop a new volunteer network of water quality logging volunteers to track trends and identify sources of impairment in the Nissequogue River.
The projects builds on a successful volunteer water logging network established for the Huntington-Northport Harbor complex. This water-logging network provides data to the Suffolk County Department of Health and Town of Huntington.
Project partners include: Vanderbilt Museum, Town of Huntington, Seymour’s Boatyard, the Senior Fishing Club, Village of Northport, and the Suffolk County Department of Health Services.
Recipient: Rocking the Boat, Inc. Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $35,000 Federal Funds: $16,000 Non-Federal Funds: $18,500 Matching Funds: $7,505 Total Project Costs: $42,505 Project Area: Bronx, New York
Rocking the Boat will train 24 students to perform weekly water quality tests at Bronx River sites to create a link human health and quality of the river through hands-on education.
Since 2004, Rocking the Boat has been participating in a volunteer monitoring program developed by the Bronx River Alliance intended to create a comprehensive database of water quality information for the Bronx River to be used by public officials. In addition to direct water quality monitoring, students will speak to the public about environmental issues in their own back yard at events such as Rocking the Boat’s Friday and Saturday Community Rowing Program.
Recipient: Town of Huntington Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $12,000 Federal Funds: $12,000 Non-Federal Funds: $0 Matching Funds: $7,900 Total Project Costs: $42,505 Project Area: Town of Huntington, New York
The Town of Huntington will produce a video aimed at residents and construction contractors focused on reducing nutrient and pathogen stormwater pollution affecting the Huntington-Northport Bay Complex.
The video will be distributed through the local public access cable channel and on the Town of Huntington website to improve the understanding of the stormwater pollution from construction and residential sources.
Recipient: Group for the East End Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $40,000 Federal Funds: $40,000 Non-Federal Funds: $0 Matching Funds: $42,900 Total Project Costs: $82,900 Project Area: Town of Southold, New York
The Town of Southold will remove and replace the current surface of a public boat ramp with permeable pavement, construct a small treatment wetland and develop public education materials about the project focused reducing nonpoint source pollution into Mattituck Inlet.
The gravel based permeable tile being used at the site is new to the United States, but has been successfully used for stormwater and sewage treatment in Australia. The way it will work is stormwater will enter the ground through the pavers and then flow into an area planted with wetland plants that will provide uptake of pollutants in the water. An educational message will be written into the tiles to inform the public about their purpose. Other educational tools at the site will inform include: interpretive signs explaining what the pavers and plants do. The goal is to create a public commitment to responsible and effective environmental stewardship.
Connecticut
Recipient: Tributary Mill Conservancy, Inc. Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $22,500 Federal Funds: $17,500 Non-Federal Funds: $5,000 Matching Funds: $28,200 Total Project Costs: $50,700 Project Area: Old Lyme, Connecticut
The Tributary Mill Conservancy will increase the capacity of it streamside incubation facility to supply 110,000 Atlantic salmon fry to lower Connecticut River tributaries with an additional incubator system and increased feed piping to ensure reliable hatching. Grade-school to college age students from 6-8 schools participate in hatchery operations and conduct studies to learn about the hatching process.
Connecticut hatcheries are currently operating at capacity. The TMC expansion will provide a cost effective, independently operated facility to supply and steward this signature species to Connecticut and Long Island Sound waters. The facility is located along one of the largest Blueback herring breeding runs and American eel migrations in the region. Atlantic salmon and the other fisheries are captured on video cameras above and below water broadcast community-wide. The facility is very unique used gravity to power its incubator and provides local water from Mill Brook Pond to achieve natural incubation conditions making it an especially viable location to ensure a high rate of survival of the young fish. Project partners include the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Recipient: Sacred Heart University, Project Limulus Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $40,000 Federal Funds: $40,000 Non-Federal Funds: $0 Matching Funds: $81,000 Total Project Costs: $121,000 Project Area: Milford, Connecticut
Sacred Heart University will develop an integrated management strategy for Milford Point with education and training of citizen scientists to monitor important environmental indicators to inform management decision-making.
Milford Point is a Long Island Sound Study Stewardship Area, an Audubon Important Bird Area, part of the federal Stewart B. McKinney Wildlife Refuge and Connecticut’s Charles Wheeler Wildlife Management Area. It is home to the federally listed piping plover and Least tern and a critical zone for horseshoe crabs. Connecticut Audubon conducts educational outreach programs for K-12 students at Milford Point. It is a center of natural resources research by multiple academic institutions including five universities and the internationally known Manomet Center for Conservation Science. Milford Point is also a popular area for fishing, bird watching and other recreational activities. Because of these sometimes overlapping interests and activities in the area, it is critical to develop a collaborative and integrated management strategy for the area. Elements of the project will be to: develop an integrated approach to management of key species; develop and synthesize data to address multiple conservation priorities; creating land use planning strategies, developing an online GIS- based database linked to key elements of the environment, and presenting multiple, unified and balanced strategies to build community support.
Project partners include: the Maritime Aquarium, The Nature Conservancy, Connecticut Audubon, SoundWaters, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Wildlife Trust and seven local schools among others.
Recipient: The Nature Conservancy Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $57,500 Federal Funds: $57,500 Non-Federal Funds: $0 Matching Funds: $310,000 Total Project Costs: $977,500 Project Area: Stonington, Connecticut
The Nature Conservancy will use funds to develop the deal to acquire 48-acres of tidal wetlands and associated habitat at Barn Island Wildlife Management Area.
The 1,013-acre Barn Island Wildlife Management Area is Connecticut’s largest coastal property managed for wildlife conservation. The property provides a diversity of ecosystems and habitats including hilly uplands, agricultural/open fields, mixed hardwood forests and salt, brackish and freshwater tidal wetlands. Barn Island is home to at least nine birds listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern by the Department of Environmental Protection, and has been named an Important Birding Area by the National Audubon Society.
Recipient: The Nature Conservancy Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $48,600 Federal Funds: $48,600 Non-Federal Funds: $0 Matching Funds: $34,100 Total Project Costs: $82,700 Project Area: Middlesex, New London, Hartford, Tolland Counties, Connecticut
The Nature Conservancy will review land-use policies for 4 towns, create maps to show the projected development and impact on natural resources, and host public meetings to increase information about conservation.
The 97,000 acre Salmon River Watershed is a jewel in the lower Connecticut River Watershed and a key recreation destination for anglers, hikers and paddlers. Because of the quality of the water in its streams, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection uses it as a benchmark watershed for streams in other parts of the State. The Watershed is the focus of state and federal efforts to restore migratory fish funds including Atlantic salmon. Salmon Cove is a freshwater marsh at the mouth of the Salmon River is know for rare species of plants, mussels and submerged aquatic vegetation that provide important habitat for fish, and migratory birds and shorebirds.
Project partners include: Colchester, East Haddam, Haddam, Kongscut and Middlesex Land Trusts, Salmon River Anglers’ Association, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and land use commission members from the 6 towns that make up the Watershed.
Recipient: Eastern Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development Area, Inc. Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $29,800 Federal Funds: $16,500 Non-Federal Funds: $13,300 Matching Funds: $43,400 Total Project Costs: $73,200 Project Area: Quinnipiac River Watershed (including New Haven, North Haven, Wallingford, Meridian, Cheshire, Southington, Wolcott, Plainville, Prospect, East Haven), Connecticut
The Eastern Connecticut Resource Conservation and Development Area will deliver a 4-day workshop for 35 municipal land use leaders concerning tools for natural resources watershed protection in towns of the Quinnipiac River Watershed.
The project implements highly successful community-based land use leadership training. The program provides information, training, and technical assistance about land use law and natural resources protection to strengthen community planning. The goal is to promote an informed and educated constituency to be involved in community decisions affecting the ecological health of the Long Island Sound and its living marine resources and build partnerships at multiple levels.
Project partners will include: Connecticut Environmental Review Team, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, The Wildlife Conservation Society, Tidewater Institute, Pace University Land Use Law Center, and the USDA- Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Recipient: Hydroqual Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $61,150 Federal Funds: $0 Non-Federal Funds: $61,150 Matching Funds: $5,725 Total Project Costs: $66,875 Project Area: Saugatuck River Watershed (Bethel, Danbury, Easton, Fairfield, Newtown, Norwalk, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport and Wilton)
Hydroqual will assist public agencies develop and implement innovative permitting and pollutant trading strategies.
The project will focus on existing studies and data collection efforts to characterize pilot watershed conditions; develop refined estimates of non-point source pollutant (NPS) loads to establish baseline conditions in pilot watersheds; review existing NPS trading programs on a national level; identify and make recommendations to overcome traditional barriers to implementation; and develop a trading guidance manual and dissemination process to promote region-wide decision-making. Project partners include: The Nature Conservancy, Saugatuck River Partnership.
Recipient: Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, State Parks Division Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $27,000 Federal Funds:$27,000 Non-Federal Funds: $0 Matching Funds:$24,500 Total Project Costs: $51,500 Project Area: Sherwood Island State Park, Westport, Connecticut
Connecticut Parks will design, develop and install educational exhibits and materials for their newly established nature center at Sherwood Island State Park.
With over 500,000 visitors annually at Sherwood Island State Park, the project will provide visitors, especially children, with a hands-on and direct opportunity to learn about Long Island Sound waterfronts, marshes, plants and animals that make the estuary home.
Recipient: Housatonic Valley Association Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $35,000 Federal Funds: $18,000 Non-Federal Funds:$17,000 Matching Funds: $31,180 Total Project Costs: $66,180 Project Area: Shelton, Stratford, Milford, Orange, Derby, Connecticut
Housatonic Valley Association will establish a Low Impact Development (LID) partnership among builders, property managers and public agencies to reduce stormwater runoff into the Long Island Sound
Project components include organization and implementation of a LID forum at the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce; drafting of a LID toolkit; modeling existing and potential impervious cover within estuary towns; and extensive community outreach to develop grassroots participation in the effort.
Project partners include: Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce, Valley Council of Governments, and the Shelton Economic Development Corporation.
Recipient: Quinebaug-Shetucket Heritage Corridor, Inc. Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $29,944 Federal Funds: $11,944 Non-Federal Funds: $18,000 Matching Funds: $58,670 Total Project Costs: $88,614 Project Area: Thames River Watershed (Windham, Tolland and New London, Connecticut; and Hampden and Worcester, Massachusetts)
Quinebaug-Shetucket Heritage Corridor will educate the 12,050 adults and children through 18 events and a website about water quality issues in the Thames River Watershed.
Project components include: paddling events along the tributaries and mainstem segments of key waterways and walking weekends a series of guided walks both with a theme of source to sea showcasing the natural resources and environmental challenges facing the watershed; soliciting 1,000 pledges by citizens to take specific actions to reduce pollution into waterbodies, recruiting of new volunteers to become water quality monitors; and distribution of children’s activity guides focused on river stewardship.
The Thames River Watershed is the third largest watershed draining into the Long Island Sound. It is a National Heritage Corridor with a distinctively rural corridor rare in the sprawling metropolitan Boston to Washington corridor. While 76 percent of the Thames River Basin is still in undeveloped forests and wetlands, urban development has occurred along major streams. Municipal wastewater treatment facilities and industrial point discharges and numerous impoundments located along major streams contribute to hypoxic conditions.
Project partners include the: Appalachian Mountain Club, Old Sturbridge Village and the Thames River Basin Partnership.
Recipient: Document Video Services, LLC Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $35,000 Federal Funds: $30,000 Non-Federal Funds: $5,000 Matching Funds: $24,000 Total Project Costs: $59,000 Project Area: Branford, Guilford, Easton, Meriden, Connecticut
Document Video Services will create and distribute a 3-part video series about fish ladders, clean clam harvesting and non-point source pollution to 1 million cable television viewers, 11th graders and municipal and conservation organizations.
The first educational video ”Up a Creek” will focus on the Branford fishway project looking at how fish ladders help reconnect saltwater to freshwater allowing fish to return to habitat for spawning back to the sea. The second video “Clam Harvest Clean Up” will describe the efforts of Atlantic Clam Farms to clean Long Island Sound of marine debris while harvesting shellfish. The third video “The Truth about Non-point Source Pollution” will present footage developed after storms to show how non-point pollutions like animal waste, leaking septic systems, and pollution from roads enters waterbodies. The video producer will explore his own septic system in scuba gear to illustrate what goes in and then potentially what goes out of such systems. There will also be documentation of proper maintenance of a typical residential septic system.
Collaborators include: the Branford Land Trust, Wesleyan University, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and Atlantic Clam Farms.
Recipient: Solar Youth Long Island Sound Futures Total Award: $35,000 Federal Funds: $25,000 Non-Federal Funds: $10,000 Matching Funds: $10,730 Total Project Costs: $45,730 Project Area: New Haven, Connecticut
Solar Youth will provide a hands-on environmental education program to 10 classrooms from grades 2-to-5 for children who live in the low-income communities of New Haven.
The project involves youth-led community service action and public education projects related to the local and Long Island watersheds including a water cycle study and an introduction to the natural resources and water quality of West River Memorial Park. Project partners include the New Haven Department of Parks and Recreation and Barnard University.