Rivers & Long Island Sound Need YOUR Voice!

Connecticut League of Conservation Voters

Dead Zones in Long Island Sound About Four Times the Size of Manhattan

...But Legislature Idles on Simple Fixes to Help Keep Water Clean

Long Island Sound's dead zones are about four times the size of Manhattan, according to Sound Health 2008, a study of the Long Island Sound. Dead zones, areas that don't get enough oxygen, occur because the rivers that empty into the Sound are too warm and too polluted. Because they can't support plant life or marine life, dead zones have far-reaching consequences for the environment, our economy and our food supply.

Yet the legislature is dragging its feet about approving two bills that would protect the state's waters and help them stay clean and healthy.

Senate Bill 569 and House Bill 5934 are top priorities of the environmental community. The bills embrace the simplest, most effective and least expensive way to reverse damage to freshwater and the Sound: by protecting the natural vegetation around source waters, streams, and rivers. Nature itself filters, cleans, and stores water. This moderates floods and droughts, shades streams to keep them cool and oxygenated, and helps keeps water clean.

Call. Email. Write.	Tell Your Legislator: Vote for Clean Water --This Year! Please urge your legislators to support bills 569 and 5934! Click here for legislators' contact information.

Senate Bill 569
Senate Bill 569, An Act Concerning Enhancements to the Inland Wetlands and Water Courses Act, affirms the state's commitment to preserving the upland streams and rivers

that flow down through our state into the Sound.

This bill is supported by the Connecticut Association of Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Commissions, the State Council of Conservation Districts, the Sierra Club, Connecticut Fund for the Environment, Rivers Alliance, and dozens of other statewide and local environmental groups.

House Bill 5934
House Bill 5934, An Act Concerning Training Requirements for Inland Wetlands Commission Members and Preserving Natural Vegetation near Wetlands and Watercourses, has been in negotiation throughout the session. The goal of this bill to maximize protection of natural vegetation alongside our streams and wetlands. This is the simplest and cheapest way to preserve healthy waters for our communities.

As of May 19, the file copy does not reflect the language that the environmental community has supported and has proposed to all stakeholders. The proposed bill includes NO prohibitions. Consistent with DEP guidance and numerous scientific studies, it requires all practicable preservation of vegetation within 100 feet of rivers and wetlands. CTLCV will send an update as soon as the negotiated language comes out of LCO.

Call. Email. Write.	Tell Your Legislator: Vote for Clean Water --This Year! Please urge your legislators to support bills 569 and 5934! Click here for legislators' contact information.