LISS News
Experts Meet on Climate Change
Federal, state, and local resource managers concerned about rising sea levels and the potential impacts of climate change attended the first Climate Adaptation Workshop
in Groton, CT. The workshop brought together experts from different government agencies to discuss how coastal communities such as Groton can adapt to rising sea levels predicted as a result of Climate Change. The workshop was the first of three that will be held in the LISS-supported project with the Town of Groton and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT DEP). The workshop was organized by ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability, a world-wide network of cities and towns focusing on climate change mitigation and adaptation, through an EPA grant. A second workshop in the series will be held on March 31, 2010. See ICLEI for more information.
Hold the Date! Reducing Polluted Runoff and Revitalizing Urban Streams and Rivers to Highlight 20th Anniversary Citizens Summit
GREEN CITIES / BLUE WATERS: Connecting urban communities to ecosystems will be the topic for the 20th annual Long Island Sound Citizens Summit, which will be held on May 7 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport. The Summit will focus on innovative stormwater management projects ( see stormwater article
) in urban centers around Long Island Sound, and how revitalizing waterways in the built environment (such as the Bronx River in New York and the Mill River in Stamford) can reconnect communities to their ecosystems. The complete agenda and speakers list will be available shortly at longislandsoundstudy.net. The event is being sponsored by Save the Sound, a program of the Connecticut Fund for the Environment and LISS. Early Bird registration is $30, and $20 for students and seniors. Space for table display is available, but a reservation is required. To register, or for more information, contact: Anna Meyer at Save the Sound (203) 787-0646 ext. 116 or e-mail her at ameyer@savethesound.org.
Futures Fund 2010 Grant Program To Seek Proposals
Check the Long Island Sound Study Web site
for the announcement that the Long Island Sound Futures Fund grant program will be requesting applications for grant proposals. Since the fund’s inception in 2005 more than $4.5 million in grants have been awarded to 105 projects in communities surrounding the Sound. Funded projects have included opening up river miles for fish passage, restoring critical wetlands, providing start-up money for watershed groups to manage programs to improve water quality, and providing children with unique opportunities to discover and learn about the Sound. The program, initiated by LISS, is managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). Visit the NFWF Futures Fund
page to get information on how to apply, and LISS’s Web site for examples of previously funded projects.
LISS Staffers Give Presentations at Conferences
Julie Rose, a research ecologist and the NOAA Liaison to the Long Island Sound Study, presented an overview of the International Workshop on Bioextractive Technologies for Nutrient Remediation at the Milford Aquaculture Seminar on Feb. 10. Rose also presented an analysis of data from the LISS-funded phytoplankton monitoring program on Feb. 24 at the 2010 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Portland, OR. The meeting was sponsored by the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, the American Geophysical Union and The Oceanography Society. Also, on Feb. 24, Larissa Graham, LISS's NY Outreach Coordinator, served on a discussion panel focused on emerging contaminants at the National Estuary Program 2010 National Meeting in Arlington, VA. She gave a summary on the April 2009 "Return Unwanted Medicines" event that was, in part, sponsored by LISS, and discussed how other NEPs can
conduct similar collection events.
Founders Award for the Nitrogen Trading Program
On Jan. 27 at its annual conference in Boston, the New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA) presented the prestigious Founders Award to CT DEP and the CT Nitrogen Credit Advisory Board for the state’s nationally recognized Nitrogen Credit Trading Program and Nitrogen General Permit to reduce nitrogen discharges to the Long Island Sound. The Founders Award was established in 1989 by NEWEA to honor members of the sanitary engineering field for notable achievements or accomplishments in environmental protection and public health. Paul Stacey, Water Planning & Standards Director, accepted the award on behalf of the CT DEP. Both Connecticut and New York are implementing innovative programs such as the trading program to reduce nitrogen levels in phases by 2014.
Around The Sound
CAC Members Join America’s Great Waters Coalition
In December, Citizens Campaign for the Environment and Audubon New York, both members of LISS’s Citizens Advisory Committee, joined more than 30 organizations to create America’s Great Waters Coalition, an alliance of national, regional, state, and local organizations working to protect, preserve, and restore America’s Great Waters. The bodies of water include Chesapeake Bay, Coastal Louisiana, the Everglades, the Great Lakes, Gulf of Maine, Mississippi River, Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, and Long Island Sound. See press release and Web site.
New York States Announces Waterfront Projects
New York Secretary of State Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez announced in December $23.8 million in funding from the state’s Environmental Protection Fund’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program for 90 projects across New York. There were 13 projects within the Long Island Sound watershed in the Bronx, Queens, Suffolk County and Randalls Island in Manhattan. The projects included designing two boat launches in the Bronx as part of New York City’s Blueway trail, and removing invasive species and updating a watershed management plan at Alley Pond Park in Queens. Visit waterfront to see descriptions of all the projects.
2010 CT Conference on Natural Resources Set for March 8
The fourth annual Connecticut conference on Natural Resources is being held at University of Connecticut at Storrs on March 8. Visit the CCNR
Web site for agenda and registration information. The multidisciplinary conference will bring together individuals working with natural resource and environmental management in Connecticut to share research, information, and ideas. It features a mix of professional and informal forums to promote information exchange, networking, a sense of community regarding Connecticut’s natural resources, and recognize achievements of dedicated individuals and groups. The conference is for all those working with the environment and natural resources through state and federal government, academia, non-governmental organizations, and the engaged public whom might belong to and volunteer with non-governmental organizations, place-based conservation organizations, and local government committees.
Maritime Aquarium Opens Exhibit on Fish in Long Island Sound
The Maritime Aquarium of Norwalk opened a new permanent exhibit in February that focuses on fish in Long Island Sound. “Go Fish: Long Island Sound & Beyond” features large fish from Long Island Sound and multimedia experiences, and explains how we can all learn to “Respect the Fish” by exploring and understanding our fascination with fish, particularly with catching, eating, and protecting fish in the Sound.
The exhibit focuses on the connections between humans and the fish in Long Island Sound (and beyond)—in the past, present, and future. Young children can pretend in a child-scale fishing boat equipped with nets, life vests, and other fishing gear. Older children can try their skills at a Nintendo Wii fishing station. See Go Fish.
Nonpoint Source Conference Set for Plymouth, MA
Registration is now open for the 21st Annual Nonpoint Source Pollution
Conference, to take place May 17-19, 2010 at the Radisson Hotel in
Plymouth, Massachusetts. Special early-bird pricing is in effect through
April 30, 2010—please register soon to take advantage. For more information about accommodations, sponsorship opportunities, the draft agenda and to register, please visit the conference website.
Since 1990, New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC), in partnership with its member states, has been coordinating the Annual Nonpoint Source (NPS) Pollution Conference, the premier forum in our region for sharing information and improving communication on NPS pollution issues and projects. The three-day conference brings together all those in New England and New York State involved in NPS pollution management, including participants from state, federal, and municipal governments, private sector, academia, and watershed groups.
Around the Web / Grant Announcement
EPA Highlights Long Island Sound Projects
The EPA has recently posted new fact sheets describing two innovative pollution-reduction projects in the Long Island Sound watershed—the efforts through LISS’s partners to reduce nitrogen pollution with wastewater treatment plant upgrades, and the joint effort by UCONN, CT DEP, and the town of Mansfield to reduce urban stormwater runoff pollution. The fact sheets are included in EPA’s new Total Maximum Daily Load— TMDLs at Work Web site. TMDLs are a study or analysis that calculates the maximum amount of a pollutant that a waterbody can receive and still meet water quality standards.
View CT’s Coast
The Connecticut Coastal Access Guide is a Web guide for people interested in exploring the Long Island Sound coast. The guide identifies sites open to the public for boating, swimming, fishing, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Now CT DEP is asking visitors to this useful guide to take a coastal access survey to help the agency learn how it can provide more information.
CT Environmental Conditions Now Online
CT DEP and the UCONN Center for Land use Education and Research
(CLEAR) have also started a new Web site, Connecticut Environmental Conditions Online or CT ECO. CT ECO provides access to a wide variety of state environmental and natural resource information. It uses advanced software that combines internet and geographic information system (GIS) technology to provide information in multiple formats for users with varying degrees of technological capability. The site includes simple map downloads, interactive mapping, and map services for GIS software users.
Habitat Restoration Grants Announcement
On behalf of the Estuary Habitat Restoration Council, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is soliciting project proposals for estuary habitat restoration projects. Applications will be accepted until close of business on March 16, 2010. The application form is attached in Word and PDF format. New this year are supplemental instructions to aid in preparation of the proposal. The proposal documents are accessible at NOAA and Army Corps Web sites.
Please note: This email message is being sent to subscribers of the Long Island Sound Study E-Newsletter. PLEASE DO NOT REPORT THIS MESSAGE AS SPAM. Pass it on and forward to a colleague.
This email was sent to [email address suppressed]. You can instantly unsubscribe from these emails or update your email preferences.
| 
