None The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut Press Releases Search All Press Releases Jeff Zanelli 860-344-0716 x332 (office) 860-301-2968 (mobile) Jeff_Zanelli@tnc.org

$200,000 in Federal funding to support study of Connecticut River

MIDDLETOWN, CT — Flowing 410 miles through four states from northern New Hampshire to Long Island Sound, the Connecticut River is an important resource for the region’s residents and for the plants, animals and fish that call it home.  Throughout its run to the sea, and along several of its main tributaries, the river is blocked by dams.  With new funding, the US Army Corps of Engineers, The Nature Conservancy and other partners will be able to continue studying how managing those dams differently can improve the flow of water throughout the system.

Maintaining river flows that mimic the natural ebb and flow of water will help to restore vital habitat for plants, fish and animals found throughout the watershed.  Through this restoration of habitat, fish and bird species that today have little or no access to the areas and conditions they need can return and thrive.

The funding for the study, $200,000, was recently appropriated as part of the Senate Energy and Water sub-committee budget for FY07.  Recognizing that this important natural resource knows no political boundaries, Senators Dodd and Lieberman of CT,  Kerry and Kennedy of MA, Jeffords and Leahy of Vermont and Gregg and Sununu of New Hampshire worked together to ensure that these funds were contained in the Senate budget.
 
Pending final budget approval, the project would begin this fall. The USACE and The Nature Conservancy have worked on such projects nationwide to find ways to improve the ecological health of our nation’s river systems, while preserving important human needs.

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The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit us on the Web at nature.org.