Fact Sheet/Spring 2005
AMERICAN HERITAGE RIVERS
www.epa.gov/OWOW/
heritage/rivers.html
The American Heritage
Rivers Initiative was created
to advance the goals identi-
fied by river communities. The
Initiative has three objectives:
natura resource an envron-
mental protection, economic
revitalization, and historic and
cultural preservation. No new
regulatory authority is created
Likewise, no direct federal
funding is available to the
Initiative. Existing federal
authorities and programs are
used to assist the community
partners
*• Connecticut River
Navigator Contact
Dan Burke
(413) 548-9420 etf.34
burke.dan@epa.gov
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency New England
888-372-7341
www.epa.gov/region1
Connecticut River
What Makes the Connecticut River
Watershed Special?
Ht is New England's largest watershed -11,000
square-miles in 4 states with 38 major tributaries.
Ht is also New England's longest river - 410 miles.
Hhe Connecticut River drops 2,400 feet from its
source before flowing into Long Island Sound.
Hhe lower 60 miles of the river are tidal, with the
boundary between salt and freshwater about 17
miles from its mouth under normal conditions.
Hhe Connecticut River flow accounts for 70 percent
of the freshwater inflow to Long Island Sound,
delivering a daily average flow of nearly 16,000
cubic feet per second.
Hhe watershed was nationally designated as one of
fourteen American Heritage Rivers.
Hhe entire watershed has been designated as the
Silvio 0. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge,
the only refuge encompassing an entire ecosystem.
Hhe river's tidal wetlands were designated "wet-
lands of international importance especially for
wildlife", one of 15 wetlands recognized in the US.
What are the Long Term Goals?
*• Support community based efforts to restore and
protect the environmental, economic, cultural,
and historic resources of the Connecticut River
Watershed.
^firing people back to the river by providing greater
river access and encouraging investment in care-
fully planned river-fronteconomic development.
Progress/Goals for the Future
What Partnership Progress has Been Made?
^-Connecticut River Joint Commissions (CRJC) has
awarded $1.1 million in federal grant funds to sup-
port 373 locally-inspired projects that implement
recommendations of the CRJC Corridor Management
Plan. This investment has been matched ten-fold
with non-federal funding and in-kind support.
*-CRJC formed the Connecticut River Byway Council to
fulfillits legislative mandate to promote tourismand
economic development.
Ho address erosion as a prevalent river concern, CRJC
developed a series of popular fact sheets on
riverbank erosion assessment and restoration, and a
second series on riparian buffers. (See CRJC website)
^-Federalagencies awarded $217,000 to CRJC to pri-
oritize erosion sites for restoration along the
entire 275 miles of main river stem in NH and VT.
^-EPAawarded $1,275,000 of Brownfields grants to
several Connecticut Valley communities and
organizations.
*-EPA awarded New England Interstate Water Pollu-
tion Control Commission (NEIWPCC) $225,000 for
the Connecticut River Nitrogen Monitoring and
Modeling Pro ject to support implementation of the
Long Island Sound TMDL for nitrogen.
>-EPA awarded MA DEP a $ 50,000 grant to develop
a bacteria monitoring plan in the Connecticut
River and tributaries, with Greater Springfield as
the focus area.
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Connecticut River
Connecticut River
Watershed
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^Connecticut River Joint
Commissions (CRJC) Contact
Sharon Francis
Executive Director
(603)826-4800
www.crjc.org
^Connecticut River Watershed
Council, (CRWC) Inc. Contact
Chelsea Gwyther
Executive Director
(413)722-2020
www.ctriver.org
AMERICAN HERITAGE
RIVERS
www.epa.gov
/OWOW/heritage/rivers.html
What EPA Actions are Planned for 2005?
Quality and Designated Use:
GRJG, NH DES, and EPA have partnered to col-
lect and analyze water quality samples over the
entire 275 river miles of the Connecticut River
in New Hampshire and Vermont to determine
if water quality is sufficient to support desig-
nated uses of the river (fishing and swim-
ming).
^•Erosion, Deposition, and Channel
Change: GRJC has undertaken a fluvial geo-
morphology assessment of the Connecticut
River from Murphy Dam in Pittsburg, NH to
the Gilman Dam in Lunenburg, VT. CRJC is ex-
amining the natural and human causes for
channel change on the river, identifying the
most unstable and degraded reaches, and
choosing restoration strategies to bring the
river toward a stable equilibrium. Funding
support has come fromNOAA($27,500) and
the Upper Connecticut River Mitigation and
Enhancement Fund ($32,600) associated
with the Fifteen Mile Falls hydro development.
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency New England
Customer Call Center 888-372-7341 • www.epa.gov/region1
Note: EPA New England offers businesses and municipalities information and assistance to improve compliance with environmental laws and be better stewards of their
local environment. Please call to learn how EPA can help.
Printed on 100% recycled/recyclable paper with a minimum 50% post-consumer fiber using vegetable-based ink JUI-r-U5-UUo
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