‘Just because you see a river flowing 360 days of the year, if it goes dry for even one day, everything is dead.’ —Trout Unlimited Candlewood Valley Chapter President James Belden

Trout Unlimited Reviews State Water Management

By Kendra Bobowick

“It’s a water battle issue,” said Trout Unlimited Candlewood Valley Chapter President James Belden who continued, “It’s only going to get worse.”

Speaking from familiarity and experience about riverbank erosion, endangered trout habitats, and riverbeds exposing bare, round rocks where the once-flowing water has run dry, Mr Belden stressed a deep concern about the state’s water management process and specifically, the increased population’s demand on the water.

“Our aquifer provides all [the water] we need, and we need to treat it right,” he said.

Laws and policies regulating use are insufficient, he said. “The current regulations and statutes are not capable of addressing water allocation and its effect on stream flows,” he said. “Inadequate environmental aspects of water management are not addressed.” Mr Belden’s concerns are just a hint of what fills the pages of a Trout Unlimited report release a month ago — A Glass Half Full, The Future Of Water In New England. (The report is also posted online at tu.org/easternwater.)

“Long ago [people] thought water was vast and unlimited,” he said.

The new report clearly conveys that this “vast and unlimited” supply is also vulnerable.

A Glass Half Full highlights environmental concerns, cites past damage to the habitat, and makes recommendations about how to amend the region’s water issues.

Mr Belden, among others, seeks a legislative wedge to begin cracking the problem manifesting in local aquifers, riverbeds, and streams. He starts his story with a population that has outgrown the state’s previous water delivery system. “Reservoirs don’t serve our needs any more,” Mr Belden said. He turns his attention to well-water supplies.

“The water the well withdraws pulls water from the ground,” he said.

The report explains, “Essentially surface water and groundwater are one continuous source. A river is merely a surface manifestation of what is flowing through the shallow soil and rocks…Too often ground water is treated…in an out-of-sight-out-of-mind manner. The result…is that many wells placed too close to the streams severely and immediately restrict summer flows and damage the stream’s biological health…”

Mr Belden’s sees a bitter impact on stream life. “Just because you see a river flowing 360 days of the year, if it goes dry for even one day, everything is dead.”

How did this problem occur?

 

The Problem

A Glass Half Full details water withdrawals, and an introductory cover letter states, “As the population grows and expands beyond its urban centers, that development places new and significant pressure on headwater streams.” Essentially, the population is placing a heavy draw on ground water supplies, Mr Belden said.

The 20-page report opens with a page-one statement explaining, “Over the past century the region’s population rapidly expanded into the suburbs and other previously rural areas. In response, domestic water use has surpassed industrial use as the largest consumer of water in the region.”

Introductory statements further assert that the “de-watering” and water depletion caused by increased population and continued growth is compounded by commercial use among golf courses, fruit-tree groves, and more.

“The result is too many dry river beds and too much impaired habitat,” the introduction claims.

Trout Unlimited Eastern Water Project Director Kirk Mayland stressed the need for firmer rules regarding water use.

“Without regulations, the water runs too hot or flows too low and too slowly so it can’t support natural aquatic life, and that effects the entire ecosystem.”

He also explained the chain reaction triggered by the unsuspecting hand that turns on the shower or fills a bucket to wash the car.

Simplifying the water withdrawal process that communities place on their groundwater, he said, “Picture water filtering through the ground and into a stream. When you take a big pipe and suck out too much ground water, and the water normally going into a stream is intercepted by a well…If you put a well near a stream it has almost immediate impact,” Mr Mayland said. “You might as well stick a pipe in the middle of it.”

The natural ground water is also the coldest, which is essential to local trout populations.

Describing the natural habits of a river, he said streams flow lower in the summer, fill during a storm, drop down again in the winter, and in the spring the water level will come back up.

“The fish and wetlands have adapted to that,” he said. “So keeping things on a natural flow curve is essential. When things dry up it’s not good.”

Mr Belden said, “If we don’t allow the natural process to work right, we won’t benefit from it.”

Stressing the problems he sees, Mr Mayland said, “What do people do in the time of year when streams have the least to give? We drop it on our lawns or wash our cars with it.”

The Solution

Responsible planning and adequate legislation are the beginnings of an answer. “It doesn’t behoove anyone not to have some constraints on everybody’s water usage,” Mr Belden said. “We have to use the water we have wisely.”

The report’s opening remarks are clear.

“The laws and policies governing water use in the state do not effectively address the suit of problems…” a point to which Mr Belden and Mr Mayland want to draw attention. The introduction summarizes, “[Trout Unlimited members’] experience shows that existing regional water policy cannot protect our water resources. We look forward to working with policy makers…to modernize laws and policies and meet the needs of our growing region.”

Mr Belden said, “We are looking for a review process; we will not take anyone’s water away. We need to meet community’s needs while protecting our resources, and we can do that without our streams running dry. We need to make smart decisions.”

Mr Mayland also strives for firmer legal protection.

“It would be nice if the state had stricter standards…the state and public don’t pay nearly enough attention to proper water management and conservation.”

The state Department of Environmental Protection is in a position to enact “good, strong water flow standards,” he explained. “If [the standards] are enforced, it should help a lot,” he said.

He also stresses smart growth, and hopes the report will help bring the state’s water issues to the forefront, he said.

“We could always replumb the state, but the whole idea is that people have to learn to live within a water budget,” Mr Mayland said.

Mr Belden also believes that smart growth involves building regulations. Regarding subdivisions or condominium complexes for examples, he said, “We need absolutely to say [a project] either can or can’t go here because a stream will run dry, and now, we really don’t have that ability.” Reasonable water use must apply to everybody, he said, from the individual to the water companies.

He further explained, “We need to look at the water allocation issue and the impact of new development on our resources. State statute should be the lead on this, but locally we have the right and obligation to ensure that new development’s water needs do not negatively impact resources important to all of us…”

Both the state and Newtown have some guidelines in place regarding aquifers. The state DEP website details its Aquifer Protection Program, which is available at dep.state.ct.us/wtr/aquiferprotection/. Newtown’s website, www.newtown-ct.gov, also posts zoning regulations that incorporate local Aquifer Protection District stipulations.