If the Public Connects to Long Island Sound, It'll Protect It

By David W. Park

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (and yours truly) have voiced their concerns for many years over the dwindling number of public access points to water for recreational activities.

It is not only a quality of life issue for a portion of the population, but it is also an economic one since people spend money to enjoy the water. NOAA cites the development of private waterfront property and the annual maintenance of existing facilities as some of the issues.

Locally, in some areas, developers of new waterfront properties are required to allow for public access, which may be a trail or a bench with a nice view, but often the public is not aware of these spots. Most of these spots do not offer real access for activities such as swimming or boating, but it is better than nothing.

The point is, there may be a “disconnect” with some people to Long Island Sound if they have no real, tangible connection to it. People may fail to understand how their activities and stewardship within the seven town Norwalk River watershed may effect the water quality of the sound if they have no physical connection to it.

How can we relate to being good stewards of property that is miles away from the waterfront (or the river) if we have no relationship to Long Island Sound? Perhaps visits to the beach or boats rides out on the water may start to change that perspective.

This past summer, a new study and plan for the sound was released titled “Sound Vision.” The last such study was completed in 1994. The plan is a 10-year blueprint and presents several goals including cleaning the water, creating and preserving wildlife habitat, re-inventing shoreline communities, funding for projects and perhaps most important is the lack of citizen engagement.

The study cites citizen engagement as lacking due to the inability to get to the sound and failure to integrate programs related to it, which are concerns similar to those of NOAA.

Upgrades to municipal wastewater treatment plants have been substantial over the years including making great strides in reducing the amount of nitrogen released into the water.

The nitrogen, when combined with summer's warm water, contributes to a condition called hypoxia. Hypoxia is the depletion of dissolved oxygen in the water necessary for aquatic life and is responsible for fish kills.

The concern now has been shifted to other unregulated sources of pollution which are identified as “non-point” sources of pollution. Non-point sources are not from an open pipe, but is runoff from various suburban and urban locations. These sources also include nitrogen as well as many other pollutants.

The Norwalk River Watershed Association is an advocate of the watershed and promotes good practices that reduce non-point pollution such as:

• Use of responsible yard maintenance procedures which include avoiding the use of fertilizers and pesticides,
• Adding buffers for filtering between water courses and yards, parking lots, driveways or structures,
• Checking septic systems for malfunctions,
• Picking up after dogs and generally being aware of what may be washed into a nearby storm drain will eventually be drained into the sound.

Hopefully, if we have a good understanding and relationship with Long Island Sound, we can better understand good practices within the seven-town Norwalk River watershed.

David W. Park of Norwalk is a member of the Norwalk Watershed Association board of directors.