2021 United Nations World Water Day theme was:
Valuing Water What Does Water Mean To You?
How is water important to your home and family life, your livelihood, your cultural practices, your wellbeing, your local environment?
On Monday March 22, 2021 a virtual conversation was co-hosted by several Connecticut conservation organizations. Agenda is below, followed by Information and Resources about water in CT , then some Fun Water Facts .
Connecticut’s World Water Day Virtual Event
This event WAS available as a facebook video
Welcome and Acknowledgements Karen Burnaska, Water Projects Coordinator at Connecticut Fund for the Environment / Save the Sound
Dedication to Melissa Schlag
Acknowledgement of Native Lands: Yaw Owusu Darko, Sandy Breslin Conservation Fellow at the Connecticut Land Conservation Council (CLCC)
Introduction by Jack Betkoski of Remarks by Governor Lamont
Remarks from Jack Betkoski Chair, CT State Water Planning Council.
Remarks by Representative Rosa Delauro.
Panel Discussion “What Water Means to Me: Perspectives on Water”
Facilitator: Alicea Charamut, Executive Director, Rivers Alliance of Connecticut.
Panelists:
Pamela “Screeching Hawk” Massey, Member of the Mohegan Tribe - Pamela worked between the casino and tribe for 23 years and is currently working in the tribes Cultural Department as the Outreach & Traditional Specialist. She travels and teaches about the Mohegan culture and helps keep the traditions and history alive. Click here for her presentation
Hailey Baranowski, Student, University of Connecticut - Hailey is a first-year Environmental Sciences major from Wethersfield, CT. She is a member of UConn’s Ecohouse and UConn Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)’s Save the Earth Campaign, and is very passionate about conservation.
Lee Cruz, Director of Community Outreach, The Community Foundation of Greater New Haven - Lee Cruz connects nonprofit organizations, civic leaders, and the business community to create social and economic benefit. Lee lives in New Haven's Fair Haven neighborhood, between the Quinnipiac and Mill River with his wife Sarah and two children, Pablo and Mateo. Click here for his presentation. Link to Quinnipiac Canoe Club. Link to Quinnipiac River Fund.
Kimberly Sandor, Executive Director, CT Nurses Association - As a registered nurse and family nurse practitioner, Kim provides training and technical assistance to Head Start programs. Kim is a strong advocate for promoting health and wellness, addressing social determinants of health and collaborating for a healthier future.
Featured presentation by Senator Richard Blumenthal
Performance by Cyril, the Water Wizard.
Remarks by Senator Chris Murphy.
Information and Resources
Northeast Canyons and Seamounts: Stretching almost 5,000 square miles and sitting 130 miles southeast of Cape Cod, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is the ONLY marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, and supports a unique and diverse ecosystem. For more information check out the resources below!
Indigenous Lands: The state of Connecticut is made up of the traditional territories of the Mohegan, Paugussett, Nipmuc, Lenape, Wappinger, Pequot, and Schaghticoke. Recently, it has become more commonplace to begin events and gatherings by acknowledging the traditional indigenous inhabitants of that land. Check out the below resources for more information about Native land acknowledgements:
Aquatic Invasives: Two invasive aquatic species of great concern are Hydrilla and Water Chestnut. In addition to the damage Hydrilla is doing to the CT River and its tributaries, its spread to other waterbodies by fragments on boat trailers or waterfowl is a grave concern.In some coves, Hydrilla has spread over the surface, making access by boat impossible. Water Chestnut is an invasive plant that has the potential to spread and get out of control, and is wreaking havoc on native plants and animals, and interfering with recreation on our rivers.
Fish Passage at the Kinneytown Dam: Providing safe, timely, and effective fish passage is a condition of the exemption from licensing the Kinneytown Dam on the Naugatuck River was granted in 1983. While a fish ladder was built to meet this requirement, even when it was operating as designed, fish passage was modest at best, and since 2013 the ladder has been rendered almost completely ineffective. There is now an opportunity for better fish passage.
Marine Debris and Illegal Dumping Solutions: Over 13,000 tires have been removed from in and near our rivers in the 24 years that volunteers have been cleaning up the Connecticut River basin. Pushing the disposal cost of tires to consumers is a recipe for illegal dumping. It is time that tire manufacturers take greater responsibility for the recycling and reuse of the tires they generate.
This year, across all 2020 cleanups coordinated by Save the Sound and the Connecticut River Conservancy, volunteers cleared more than 12,000 pounds of trash and debris. Nearly every category of plastic trash increased from 2019, however there is reason for optimism in the coming year. See a more detailed report from the two organization below.
Natural Flood Solutions, Benefits of Healthy Floodplains: Healthy floodplains provide a myriad of benefits for people and nature, from flood protection to safeguarding water quality and great wildlife habitat. To help ensure the lasting resiliency of floodplains, The Nature Conservancy's Floodplains by Design is a science-based guide for TNC and other conservation partners. The more we keep floodplains healthy, the more we protect their myriad of benefits.
Siting of Large-Scale Solar: Environmental protection demands that we find a balance between competing resources. When we consider a renewable energy such as large-scale solar, we need to balance the value of reduction in greenhouse gases with carbon storage/sequestration and other eco-system services of soil and forest resources.
Monitoring the Health of the Long Island Sound: Sound Health Explorer (SHE) is an interactive tool created and maintained by Save the Sound and powered by data from organizations that monitor the health of Long Island Sound. SHE's mission is to increase public understanding of water quality conditions in Long Island Sound by making data more accessible and understandable.
Nitrogen pollution in coastal waters of Long Island Sound is reaching a tipping point. The longer we wait to fix it, the harder and costlier it will be. The Nature Conservancy has developed this website to provide the information, tools and resources coastal communities need to restore and protect clean, healthy waters – now and for future generations.
SOAR: Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration: Oyster aquaculture in the United States provides jobs in coastal communities, provides a sustainable source of seafood and can help improve ocean health by providing habitat for fish and improving water quality.
SOAR
How the Water Shapes Us: Check out the below photo essay of the people and places within the Mississippi River basin.
Climate Crisis: a video that charts the growth of climate activism, from Greta Thunberg’s voyage across the Atlantic and the global Climate Strike to the local activities of the Sunrise Movement and other concerned residents of Connecticut fighting for clean water. Link to YouTube.
Fun CT Water Facts
Abundant Rain and Snow: Connecticut is one of the top ten states in the nation for precipitation, getting 40 to 50 inches per year on average.
Water Bodies: According to Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, our state has about 450,000 acres of wetlands, 6,000 miles of streams and rivers, over 2,000 lakes and reservoirs, 618 miles of coastline and 600 square miles of estuarine water in Long Island Sound.
Valuable Groundwater: Connecticut’s natural aquifers provide storage for water underground, in the spaces between grains of sand and gravel, or in the cracks of bedrock. Groundwater supplies water for over 250,000 private wells and can replenish flow to streams in drought conditions.
Highest Standards for Drinking Water: Connecticut is one of only two states in the U.S. (the other is Rhode Island) that does NOT allow any surface supply of drinking water to be downstream of a wastewater treatment plant.
Ecologically Sensitive: Connecticut’s laws protect wetlands and our streamflow regulations protect the ecological needs of some rivers. These regulations require dam operators to release appropriate (seasonally variable) flows to support aquatic species/habitats.
Smart Planning for the Future: Connecticut developed a state water plan that integrates and balances the many demands on our state waters. Many states do not do water planning until there is a serious water supply crisis and/or water-related conflict.
About this website: OurWaterCT.org was created in 2018 by Rivers Alliance of CT and Save Our Sound to educate people about the CT State Water Plan and to encourage participation in the creation of the Plan. After the successful passage of the Plan, Rivers Alliance began maintaining the website as a vehicle for presentations and events that were sponsored by multiple water advocacy groups. For more information about this website, or to suggest corrections or additions, please contact the Rivers Alliance of CT Websiter.