Your Weekly Digest of Save the Sound’s Action
Each Wednesday, we bring you an update on one of our program areas. This week: Ecological Restoration. Read other recent updates on our blog: Legal, Healthy Waters, Climate & Resiliency, and Protected Lands.
Installing a Rain Garden in Rye, NY
Rain gardens are a form of green infrastructure that filter pollutants from stormwater runoff before it flows into the nearest waterbody. Native plants and layers of soil, sand, and rock act as sieves to remove harmful chemicals, toxins, and nutrients. The resulting water that absorbs back into the watershed is cleaner after it filters through a rain garden. These gardens are also pockets of nature that bring beauty to the spaces they occupy. This weekend, Save the Sound, the Rye Sustainability Committee, and the Rye Conservation Commission/Advisory Committee are installing a rain garden at the Rye Arts Center in Rye, New York. While this garden installation has reached capacity for volunteers, we welcome you to contact us at reducerunoff@savethesound.org if you are interested in helping install future rain gardens in Connecticut or Westchester County, New York.
Kicking off the Hutchinson River Watershed Plan on September 21
We are excited to begin a new watershed planning process in Westchester! As we begin Phase I of the Hutchinson River Watershed Plan, Save the Sound and Westchester County invite you to join us virtually on Wednesday, September 21 from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm for our first public meeting. During this meeting, we want to hear your concerns and ideas from the Westchester community related to water quality and pollution, in order to include your priorities in the plan. No expertise required—we will explain what watershed plans are and how the plan we will develop together over the coming months will provide a roadmap to restore the Hutchinson River. Anyone interested in the Hutchinson River is welcome to attend!
Register for the webinar here.
Focusing on Our Inland Rivers and Parks this Connecticut Cleanup Season
Cleanup season is in full swing, and this Saturday, September 17, marks International Coastal Cleanup Day. While the effort to clean up our state originated on the coasts, we know that trash travels. Most of the trash that ends up on our beaches started somewhere else. This year, we are focusing on rallying support for cleaning up inland rivers and parks like Hanover Pond in Meriden and Valley Falls Park in Vernon to stop trash in its tracks. Removing litter and debris inland prevents it from traveling down the watershed into Long Island Sound. Beaches are not the only places where trash negatively affects the health of people and wildlife, so find a cleanup near you and join us in protecting all kinds of natural spaces in Connecticut.
Sign up for these cleanups and more here.
Upcoming Cleanups that Need Your Help:
Groton – Esker Point Beach, 9/9, 10am-12pm
Meriden – Hanover Pond, 9/9, 9am-12pm
New Britain – Stanley Quarter Park, 9/17, 10am-12pm
Vernon – Valley Falls Park, 9/17, 10am-12pm
Danbury – Kenosia Park, 9/17, 10am-12pm
Canton – Farmington River, 9/17, 9am-12pm
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Thanks for your support, Melissa Pappas, Ecological Restoration Communications Specialist