Read the full story on page 4.
• Protecting River Herring • The PhotoVoice Project • How’s the Water? • Fish Passage Award
Every estuary is thumbprint unique, connecting streams and rivers with larger bodies of saltwater. Aerial views in our region show us slim ribbons of freshwater traversing forests, mountains, and city centers, emptying into the expansive Atlantic Ocean. Estuaries are the meeting points, the blending of local with global.
Long Island Sound—our local estuary—is like no other because its watershed drains distinct geologies and environments. While I may be biased, it is truly a remarkable body of water, reflecting the region that Save the Sound is privileged to serve.
This season, Save the Sound was the meeting point for leaders from estuaries across the nation. We hosted the board of Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) for three days of learning, experiential activities, and board duties (Save the Sound serves on the board as well). Tours of habitat restoration opportunities in the Farm River, discussions of cutting-edge water quality monitoring communication tools, and exploration of our green infrastructure park in New Haven kept everyone energized (as did the lobster rolls). It was inspiring to exchange ideas and lessons-learned with folks passionate about protecting their own estuaries!
Often, we team up with our RAE colleagues in Washington, D.C., to ensure all of America’s estuaries have the resources needed to be healthy and vibrant. Recently, our team made the trip to D.C. with the Long Island Sound Study’s Citizens Advisory Committee. We met with representatives to advocate for our major efforts to take down dams, create living shorelines, and protect threatened habitat and open space.
Of all the country’s breathtaking array of coastal ecosystems, we love ensuring the Sound community receives the attention and support it deserves. From your neighborhood events to the halls of Congress, you help us connect our beloved local region with the bigger stream of national environmental action.
Thank you for making this work possible.
Leah Lopez Schmalz President
River herring species—alewife and blueback herring—are small fish with a big impact on Long Island Sound’s ecosystem. We remove dams, in large part, to open access for these feeder fish to migrate up the rivers and streams of Connecticut and New York. And we need to make sure there are enough river herring to use the habitat we’re opening for them.
Our own Long Island Soundkeeper, Bill Lucey, will play an important role in making those critical decisions. This summer, he was appointed by Governor Ned Lamont as the Connecticut representative to the New England Fisheries Management Council. He will be sworn in in September. River herring are caught unintentionally in offshore, federally managed fisheries and research has shown our Long Island Sound herring are genetically distinct and being caught in significant numbers. Following advocacy from Save the Sound, there is an opportunity to address this problem with the Council over the next three years by:
• Using data to understand when and where river herring and shad are most likely to become bycatch in offshore
fisheries and consider time/area fishing closures to best avoid them.
• Establishing a catch cap that reflects the population levels needed in individual rivers to sustain the river herring population.
• Improving the accuracy and precision of bycatch data collected so that the catch cap better reflects the number of river herring being taken.
“Bottom line, we need more accurate data to make betterinformed decisions,” Bill says. “Sitting at the decision-making table to help inform fisheries policy that will benefit the state of Connecticut and the overall marine environment is an honor.” Bill’s work will include a range of other issues, including the economic and ecological impacts of offshore wind.
“I look forward to supporting Connecticut’s fleet and to striving for sustainable harvest far into the future.”
Community shares ideas for a vibrant, restored park
This summer, Save the Sound and the Six Lakes Park Coalition hosted community visioning sessions to conceptualize the future of Olin Powder Farm, the 103-acre property in southern Hamden known as Six Lakes, which we are working to get remediated and turned into a public park. Over two weeks, more than 60 community members gathered to share their vision for the park as a neighborhood hub. Ideas included walking trails with opportunities for birding, water recreation on the lake, picnic areas, event spaces, small business hubs, and more. Neighbors envisioned Six Lakes as a place for connection, relaxation, and fun.
Gathering community ideas is an important step in this restorative and environmental justice effort. Six Lakes is connected historically and hydrologically
to the predominantly Black, workingclass Newhall neighborhood to the south. Newhall was built over a system of wetlands that flowed into Six Lakes, and these wetlands were filled with industrial waste before being built over. Thanks to advocacy from community leaders, the neighborhood had a large-scale cleanup in the early 2000s, but many homes still suffer from unremediated damage. Restoring Six Lakes according to the needs and vision of this community is a step toward the environmental justice it deserves.
Later this fall, the Six Lakes Park Coalition will prepare a report summarizing the main outcomes of the visioning sessions as well as a community survey. This will help guide the next steps in the cleanup efforts and lay out a plan for the future of Six Lakes.
Ella McGrail, our New York policy intern, dove into the legislative world of Albany last spring. Over six months, she faced the complexities of politics, from lobby days to strategic meetings. Ella’s experience highlights the importance of relationshipbuilding and perseverance in environmental advocacy. Discover her insights in her survival guide for the New York legislative session at savethesound.org/nysession
The red clover, milkweed, and yarrow growing at the corner of Haven and Exchange streets in New Haven’s Fair Haven neighborhood have transformed the space from an abandoned, trash-filled roadway into the Mill River Trail Green Infrastructure Park. Under those colorful native flowers planted by Save the Sound and volunteers, we installed layers of rock, sand, and soil to filter stormwater from nearby streets and sidewalks, cleaning the runoff and absorbing it into the ground to mitigate flooding and pollution in the nearby Mill River.
This year, the green infrastructure park also became a gathering place. The Urban Waters Initiative (UWI), a program organized by Save the Sound and community partners, held a series of gatherings, workshops, site visits, and training sessions for Fair Haven residents. Among the free events offered were an environmental justice conversation with Junta for Progressive Action and the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP), a water-quality training along the Mill River on the New Haven Sound School’s boat, a rain garden training with Fair Haven’s Peels & Wheels Composting, and a documentary storytelling workshop with Project Drawdown, a climate-based community storytelling initiative.
These events and others were inspired by themes emerging from our 2023 PhotoVoice project, where neighborhood
residents shared their visions for a better Fair Haven through photography. Participants in that program captured images that communicated their desires—more blue and green spaces, transformed abandoned areas, and a cleaner, litter-free environment.
One PhotoVoice participant was Mik-Tricia Mitchell, whose photographs (top row) showcase the vibrancy of Fair Haven, highlighting residents in neighborhood green spaces and community farms overflowing with hanging fruit and vegetables.
“I hope that the PhotoVoice Series can work to highlight the beautiful culture that Fair Haven has,” says Mik-Tricia. “From my photos, I would like people to see the potential and the will of the people who believe in Fair Haven.”
Fair Haven is designated by DEEP as an environmental justice community, meaning residents are disproportionately affected by pollution exposure. They are also deeply affected by heat waves, partially due to a lack of green infrastructure which would help to mitigate the impacts of intense heat.
Part of this year’s UWI project is to develop actionable pathways to a Fair Haven that is protected from excessive pollution, a Fair Haven that is free from litter, and a Fair Haven that integrates green infrastructure more widely.
“I hope the Urban Waters Initiative will exemplify the importance of community representation and integration for neighborhood-based environmental projects. Local residents are the experts on their communities.”
-Xóchitl Garcia, UWI community leader and PhotoVoice organizer
The data and efforts behind ensuring safe and healthy waterways in our Long Island Sound region
It’s the question our water quality team is asked more than any other. Yet, there is no easy answer.
Our team tests the Sound’s waters and generates reports evaluating specific aspects of water quality. Here’s what you need to know about what these reports measure and how to use the information.
Local health departments monitor the water at their beaches and are the source for up-to-the-minute news about safe swimming and beach closures. Our Long Island Sound Beach Report (published in odd years and updated annually at soundhealthexplorer.org/swimmable) takes a longer view. We collect municipal data and use a methodology created by our staff scientists and external science advisors to grade more than 200 Sound beaches’ swimming safety—A through F, green through red—for each of the past three years.
Grades can vary widely from one beach to the next. Knowing the previous years’ grades at the beaches around you can help you determine where it’s historically been safest to swim. The grades also generate strong public interest that helps Save the Sound, local environmental groups, and communities identify problem beaches and advocate for cleaning them up.
It’s not pleasant to think about, but when sewage treatment plants aren’t performing properly, sewer lines break, or heavy rains cause excessive stormwater runoff, harmful pollution flows into the Sound. Exposure to these contaminated waters—whether through swimming or eating seafood—can make people sick.
Between June and Labor Day, our staff and volunteers collect water samples from ~65 sites in the western Sound—from
Greenwich along Westchester County and into Queens. The samples are processed for fecal indicator bacteria levels (Enterococcus in marine waters, E. coli in freshwater) at the John and Daria Barry Foundation Water Quality Lab in Save the Sound’s Larchmont office.
In the summer months, we share the results weekly, and you can use them to help decide whether to swim, boat, or fish in specific areas. This monitoring program helps identify areas where water quality is compromised, and we use the data to help drive localized investment in wastewater and stormwater infrastructure improvements—and to show the impact of completed projects.
The Unified Water Study (UWS) goes beyond human health to assess the ecological health of the Sound. Funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, run by Save the Sound, and involving 27 monitoring groups, the UWS gathers nitrogen, temperature, oxygen, and other ecological health measurements in 46 bays and harbors to determine how well these waters support aquatic life.
The data help us and state agencies protect habitats, support fisheries, and address pollution and climate change. You can see the results for your favorite bay or harbor in the Long Island Sound Report Card (published even years) or online at savethesound.org/reports. These grades can inform community efforts to protect and restore local waterways.
Together these water quality monitoring efforts bring transparency to the Sound’s health, allowing the public to make informed choices about their enjoyment of its waters and helping us all to push for restoration projects and sewage and stormwater upgrades that will ensure a vibrant, thriving Sound for future generations.
savethesound.org/wq >
Jean M. Richards was a trailblazer—one of the first women on Wall Street, a dedicated volunteer, and a lifelong advocate for the environment. Her love for nature was evident in her service as a board member of Connecticut Fund for the Environment (now Save the Sound) and the Connecticut River Watershed Council. When Jean passed away in 2022, she left a generous portion of her estate to Save the Sound, a quiet act of support that reflected her enduring commitment to protecting the environment.
Now, we have the chance to honor Jean’s legacy through the Jean M. Richards Endowment Fund.
We invite you to contribute to the newly established Jean M. Richards Endowment Fund, which supports our core programs and ensures that our mission to protect and preserve the environment endures for generations. Whether through a one-time gift, annual pledge, or estate planning, your contribution—no matter the size—will help us reach our initial goal of $100,000 in Jean’s honor. These invested funds will provide annual revenue that sustains Save the Sound for the long term.
For more information on how to contribute, please contact Kim Williams at kwilliams@savethesound.org or 203-376-0097
First woman to receive Fish Passage Distinguished Career Award
This year, Laura Wildman, our vice president of ecological restoration, made history as the first woman to receive the Fish Passage Distinguished Career Award at the International Fish Passage Conference in Quebec City. She was chosen for her expertise in removing dams, rather than for researching or designing fishways—another first. Laura is a fisheries and water resources engineer with more than three decades of experience in engineering, river science, construction, community outreach, and environmental advocacy on hundreds of ecological restoration projects. She holds a B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Vermont as well as a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University. “Restoring ecosystems in my own Connecticut Valley is my passion,” Laura says. Her achievements and dedication were also recently showcased in the documentary Reconnected: Restoring the Rivers of Long Island Sound, which highlights the importance of freeing rivers for migratory fish.
