Clean water strategies discussed at NCCC

Northwestern Connecticut Community College (NCCC), in partnership with the Farmington River Watershed Association (FRWA) and the Northwest Conservation District (NCD), held a forum Monday, March 24, on keeping waters clean in Winchester. Speakers at the forum included professor Tara Holmberg of NCCC, Aimee Petras and Alisa Phillips-Griggs of the FRWA and Sean Hayden from the NCD. Eileen Fielding, executive director of the FRWA, was also present. This event was open to students of the college as well as the general public.The evening started with an overview of projects completed by the college to help maintain clean water in the nearby Still River. According to Holmberg, NCCC has completed six native garden projects since 2009, with the help of students, faculty, staff and community groups. These projects include the restoration of the buffer garden along the Still River, as well as the planting of a rain garden. The buffer garden, a strip of vegetation along the river bank, aids in filtration of runoff before it reaches the river, while the rain garden functions similarly by collecting rainwater from sidewalks and pavement. Both projects involved direct participation from the college’s students, from selecting the appropriate native plants to the actual planting of the gardens itself.Griggs, who is the water quality and projects coordinator for the FRWA, explained another important step in keeping local running water clean: testing it.Griggs said the FRWA tests local water regularly.In determining water quality, the FRWA checks for chemicals, metals, E. coli and other bacteria, as well as monitors in-stream water temperatures and the health of fish and insect populations. If the water quality fails to meet certain criteria, it is placed on the state’s Impaired Water List. Griggs said it is no surprise that impaired water is found in more developed, urban areas. “The number one water quality problem in the U.S. is storm water pollution,” Griggs said. “The more impervious cover, including roads, sidewalks and roofs near a water source, the more runoff is carried into the water. The solution to the problem lies in the restoration of buffer gardens, also known as riparian buffers. These green zones help slow polluted water, increase filtration and vastly improve the water quality, making them the single most effective protection for local water sources.”Griggs said these needs have begun to be addressed in our local watershed. Sean Hayden, a soil scientist with the Northwest Conservation district, highlighted some of the structures that have been built to protect water sources in Winchester.One such project was to build a rain garden on the grounds of the Winchester Sewer and Treatment Plant. A site that contains buildings, pavement, and traffic that includes sewage trucks, now also contains a rain garden around a recessed storm drain. All runoff is filtered by this rain garden before it enters the groundwater and the Still River. The Crystal Lake Filtration Facility features another man-made filtration system, a bioswale. An ecological alternative to storm sewers, bioswales are sloped landscape elements that help catch and filter runoff water from parking lots and pavement. In addition to these completed projects, there are plans to build a new bioswale alongside the large parking lot of NCCC’s Arts and Science Center. This new structure, along with the rain garden and buffer gardens, will help to keep the Still River and Mad River running cleaner. “Ninety percent of the rain in Connecticut falls in increments of 1 inch or less,” Hayden said. “If structures are built to handle 1 inch of runoff water, then that solves 90 percent of the problem.”For more information, visit the Farmington River Watershed Association’s website at www.frwa.org.