Projects

To support the grassroots organization identified in the Quinnipac Watershed Action Plan and continue to organize volunteers toward implementaing the plan's actions.  To harness the combined efforts of a large pool of citizen volunteers, clubs, civic roups, shcools and businesses, which hav eparticipated at least one year in a QRWA river activity.  To use our conservation, recreation and education events and programs to increase our volunteer ranks.  To continue to train and guide these volunteers toward reducing the point source and nonpoint source pollution that enters our waterways.  These volunteers will educate landowners and builders whose activities have a direct impact on water quality and habitat health in tributaries and main rivers.

To support a short course in river processes to local environmental activists and municipal officials that will cover the basic hydrologic, geomorphic, chemical and biological processes that govern stream ecosystems and how they are perturbed by human activities.

To support the annual monitoring, education, advocacy, public access and restoration activities as well as expanding grassroots organizing to continue with clean up activities in the Quinnipiac Rive Watershed Action Plan.

To support an education and awareness program for youth and the broader community.

To offer a short course in river processes to local environmental activist and municipal officials.  The course will cover the basic hydrologic, geomorphic, chemical and biological processes that govern stream ecosystems and how they are perturbed by human activities. Participants will receive the scientific tools that they need in order to understand and critically evaluate environmental data on the Quinnipiac River.

To work directly with municipalities in the Quinnipiac river watershed not only to educate municipal officials, but also to follow up and help them improve municipal regulations that affect water quality in the Quinnipiac and watershed.  Primary target for this project are municipal CEO's, Planning and Zoning Commissions, Inland Wetland Commissions, and Town Councils.

To offer a 2-day short course in river processes to local environmental activists and municipal officials.  The course will cover the basic hydrologic, geomorphic, chemical, and biological processes that govern stream ecosystems, and how they are perturbed by human activity.  Participants will receive the scientific tools that they need in order to understand and critically evaluate environmental data on the Quinnpiac River.

To work with selected leaders from Quinnipiac River Watershed communities to improve the land use decision-making process and control non-point source pollution.  The proposed program is for a 4-day workshop, emphasizing the regulatory power to make wise land use decisions, and presenting collaborative decision making techniques.

To support educational activities taking place on-board the schooner Quinnipiac that will connect students and teachers from upper watershed schools with students and teachers in lower watershed schools.

To continue to work on scientifically validated Stream Team assessment program, to redesign the program to use a larger poll of personnel who will learn to perform rapid assessment  in the field to collect baseline and annual data, develop a bioassessment protocol for the salt marsh in the lower river that can be performed by teams, and enlarge citizen "eyes on the river," the Adopt-the-River program, but reorganizing adopters so that they are convened together at least once per year to learn skills of river protection and restoration and to report progress to officials.