At The Water’s Edge––

Protecting Newtown’s Class 1 Natural Trout Fishery

By Dottie Evans

To protect a stream, plant a tree.

This is the mantra that is leading day hikers, trout fishermen, local and state environmental officials, nursery operators, a farmer, Newtown landscape contractors, and small business owners to take action on behalf of the pristine Deep Brook Class 1 trout fishery that crosses Fairfield Hills and enters the Pootatuck River in Sandy Hook.

The catalyst bringing these diverse groups together is Newtown’s greenway path known as Al’s Trail –– the last section of which parallels the sensitive Deep Brook watercourse.

Now that the 22-acre Deep Brook greenway through Fairfield Hills has been officially deeded to the town, the responsibility for the trout stream falls solidly into local hands. Trail planners hope there will be plenty of volunteers to help support the cause.

“We are looking for strong, willing, able bodies for the planting of approximately 400 native trees and bushes along Deep Brook,” said Open Space Task Force member Pat Barkman during a field planning session August 27.

The first stage will take place over the weekend of September 24 to 26. Anyone interested in helping should call Ms Barkman at 426-8949, or show up at 9 am at the Commerce Road cul-de-sac on Friday or Saturday, and bring work gloves, a pail, and a shovel. Latecomers can follow the Al’s Trail signs to join the work in progress.

Ms Barkman and Newtown resident James Belden, who is co-chair of the Deep Brook Watershed Committee of the Candlewood Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU), both spent the day walking Al’s Trail where it enters the watershed.

“We’ve got [landscaper] Paul Miles, [Board of Education member] Paul Mangiafico, and Burt Demarche to help dig holes with their backhoes,” said Ms Barkman.

The trees and shrubs will be provided at cost from a local nursery with the Newtown Tree Project and Trout Unlimited sharing the bill. Newtown Hardware will donate wire and materials for protective cages against deer.

“Centuries ago, such streams were abundant across the state,” said Mr Belden.

“There are wild brown and native strains of trout in here that are naturally reproducing,” he added, describing the fast-flowing section of Deep Brook that crosses Fairfield Hills.

 Testing The Waters

Although Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has official stewardship over the Deep Brook fishery, Trout Unlimited acts as a local watchdog. When necessary, that organization will exercise its considerable political clout and “local and national litigation capabilities” to be sure coldwater streams and their wild trout are given the protection they need, Mr Belden said.

The Class 1 Deep Brook trout fishery includes the portion of the Pootatuck where Deep Brook enters the river. This also happens to be the area where Newtown’s sewage treatment plant discharges treated water.

Peter T. Ververis is plant manager at Aquarian Services Company, 24 Commerce Road, Newtown. His company has been contracted by the town to monitor water quality in Deep Brook and the Pootatuck River after it has passed through the plant.

According to Mr Belden, the sewage treatment plant is supposed to be “state-of-the-art and the effluent completely innocuous,” but the situation bears constant monitoring.

 “We manage, operate, and maintain the water filtration systems. We administer acute aquatic toxicity tests several times a day on the effluent. This is done to see whether minnows, as well as micro-organisms like Daphnia, can survive –– and how long they survive. The results are 95 to 98 percent survival,” Mr Ververis said.

He pointed out a mowed area to the sewage plant outlet pipe where Newtown’s Public Works Department had cleared a path through the meadow to the place where water quality tests are routinely taken. It is only a few dozen paces away from where Al’s Trail will go.

Trout Unlimited Steps In

Founded 45 years ago in 1959, Trout Unlimited is a grass-roots conservation organization comprising half a million members nationwide. James Belden and Joe Hovious are co-chairs of the Pootatuck, Deep Brook Watershed Committee for its local Candlewood Valley Chapter, and Mr Hovious is also a member of the town’s Open Space Task Force.

Not only is TU an advocate for water preservation, it maintains a “No Bait, No Kill” stance for the purpose of maintaining healthy, existing natural trout or salmon populations.

“We recommend single, nonbarbed hooks or flies, and a catch-and-release method. Unfortunately, poaching is a tremendous problem,” Mr Belden said.

“I’m estimating that 80 percent of the fishermen who work this stream are poachers,” he said, “but there are only four officials statewide to enforce the no-poaching rule.”

Degradation of the watershed from other sources is also at issue.

The Governor’s Second Company Horse Guard has enjoyed access to a large portion of the 800-acre Fairfield Hills property that surrounds their barns and pastures. They routinely ride and maintain their own trail system around the farmer’s fields nearby the trout stream and through the woods.

“We hope they will discontinue fording Deep Brook,” said Mr Belden citing possible issues of siltation and waste contamination in the stream itself.

The horse guard has been vigilant about cleaning their riding trails after use by horses and they respect the farmer’s rights by carefully avoiding his cultivated fields.

Another cause for concern is pesticide and fertilizer leaching into Deep Brook from the state agricultural fields that are leased by the farmer.

Trout Unlimited is hoping to establish a 100-foot buffer zone between his corn crop and the water’s edge, and Mr Belden reports that as soon as the town marks the open space boundary for Al’s Trail — a service that Brautigam Land Surveyors has offered to donate — the farmer has agreed to move the crop farther away from Al’s Trail and the stream.

“He’ll plant only hay on the other side of Deep Brook, which does not require pesticides. And he offered us the use of his manure pile — provided for him by the horse guard — to fertilize the new trees,” Mr Belden noted.

On the negative side, he said there is no doubt that siltation and runoff from construction of Reed Intermediate School several years ago temporarily damaged the trout hatchery. And the oil spill from Canaan House last winter was a near disaster.

“It was a very close call for the natural trout fishery,” said Mr Belden.

“If that had happened in the spring or summer we would have lost the entire thing.”

Anyone interested in learning more about Trout Unlimited (TU) may go online at www.TU.org and join the local Candlewood Valley Chapter (#309) by taking advantage of an introductory offer of $18.50. The local chapter receives $17.50 of that money directly to do local work like the Al’s Trail tree planting project. Or call 800-834-2419 for membership information. Donations are tax deductible.