DEP, Kelda Group, Nature Conservancy

Sign Agreement On Open Space

HARTFORD (AP) –– The state Department of Environmental Protection, the Kelda Group, and the Nature Conservancy on Friday signed a $90 million purchase agreement to preserve 15,300 acres of water company land.

The previously announced deal involves open space near reservoirs and feeder streams owned by two subsidiaries of British-owned Kelda-Aquarion and Bridgeport Hydraulic Co.

The mostly forested land includes the last large tract of undeveloped property in Fairfield County as well as parcels in New Haven, Hartford, and Litchfield Counties.

The state’s share of the purchase is $80 million; the nonprofit Nature Conservancy is contributing $10 million. Kelda values the land at $190 million and is donating the difference to the preservation effort.

How the state will pay its share of the deal is still a subject of debate. Gov John G. Rowland originally proposed the purchase price as part of the two-year state budget, but that funding was eliminated by the Legislature.

While Rowland and state lawmakers generally agree on the effort to preserve the space, they are divided on whether to use up to $30 million from last year’s budget surplus to pay for part of the acquisition, or issue state bonds for the full $80 million. The Legislature is expected to decide the matter at a special session next week to address a growing budget deficit.

Rowland was in Las Vegas last week for the Republican Governors Association meeting, but he said in a statement that the acreage in the Kelda transaction is more than four times greater than the state’s previous record for acquiring open space in a full year.

“Not only has this acquisition preserved thousands of acres of pristine land, it has also greatly increased recreational opportunities available to Connecticut residents both today and in the future,” he said.