New Haven, CT – Save the Sound has received two grants from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Long Island Sound Futures Fund (LISFF), supporting the new water quality data-sharing tool QuickDrops and the Long Island Sound River Restoration Network (RRN), a collaboration of Connecticut and New York-based organizations dedicated to the restoration and health of the region’s rivers.
The $500,000 secured for year three of the RRN—which includes the organizations American Rivers, Connecticut River Conservancy, Save the Sound, The Nature Conservancy in CT, Trout Unlimited, Farmington River Watershed Association, Housatonic Valley Association, and Seatuck Environmental Association—will help the network to continue its work accelerating the pace and scale of stream barrier removal across the lower Sound watershed.
“The Nature Conservancy is thrilled to be a part of the River Restoration Network, and to see continued investment in this effort through the Long Island Sound Futures Fund,” says Emily Hadzopulos, freshwater restoration project manager at The Nature Conservancy. “The collaboration made possible through the network enables us to work more creatively, efficiently and at a greater scale than any one of us could do alone.”
During its first year, the RRN released a Dam Removal Report, which summarized the benefits of removing dams to restore free-flowing rivers in the Long Island Sound watershed and showcased the removal of Dana Dam in Wilton, Connecticut. The Network also produced its first documentary film, Reconnected: Restoring the Rivers of Long Island Sound, which has since seen numerous screenings and premieres throughout the Long Island Sound region and beyond.
In its second year, the RRN has focused on forging better connections and coordination with state and federal agency partners and developing a standard method for performing initial screening and investigations of potential projects. In February, the group hosted a full-day Agencies & Funders Convening with partners from both states.
Year three of the RRN will focus on greater coordination and cooperation between practitioners, funders, and regulators to expand capacity for dam removal and culvert right-sizing. The work funded by the LISFF includes actions organized along collaborative pathways co-developed with agency partners, including advancements in public education and outreach, coordination on sediment management best practices, and more connection and support for municipalities, councils of governments, and county officials.
“The RRN’s collaborative model helps us all make a bigger impact on removing barriers for fish passage, changing policy, and supporting natural and life-filled waters from source to sea,” Rhea Drozdenko, river steward at the Connecticut River Conservancy, says. “Connecticut River Conservancy is honored to continue our important partnership with the River Restoration Network.”
This National Fish and Wildlife Foundation funding also includes $155,445.15 for Save the Sound to further develop, operate, and grow the user base of QuickDrops, a centralized digital water quality data management and visualization tool.
“This software will enable water quality data collectors throughout the coastal and upper Long Island Sound watershed to upload information to a standardized shared database and display data in a graphic, accessible format,” said Peter Linderoth, director of the Healthy Waters Institute for Save the Sound, who anticipates a formal launch in the first quarter of 2025. “We are grateful to the National Fish and Wildlife Federation and the Long Island Sound Futures Fund for supporting our work to create it.”