Federal grants announced Monday to protect Long Island Sound will benefit the restoration of Alewife Cove, the development of an educational display about plastic pollution, a study of flooding at Five Corners in the City of Groton, a project focused on permeable pavement in Groton, and the education of local students.

A total of $12 million from the Long Island Sound Futures Fund program, along with $8 million in matching funds, will benefit 39 projects in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Mark Tedesco, the director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Long Island Sound Office, said during the webinar announcement on Monday that the projects, which incorporate climate resiliency and environmental justice, represent diverse approaches to improve the Sound and communities.

An approximately $399,900 federal grant was announced for the development of a restoration plan for Alewife Cove. Joe Lanzafame, New London’s public utilities director, said the goal is to improve the environmental standing of the cove. New London, Waterford, and the Alewife Cove Conservancy are expected to contribute a total of about $126,700 in matching funds.

Edward Lamoureux, the founder and co-chair of the Alewife Cove Conservancy who grew up in, on and around Alewife Cove, was elated by the news. He said the natural border between New London and Waterford is used for fishing, kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding, science, education and art, and is an estuary where alewife fish return for their natural spawning grounds.

The Town of Groton received two grants. Megan Granato, the town’s sustainability and resilience manager, said it’s exciting to see the investment in Groton and southeastern Connecticut.

A $190,000 grant will benefit a project to identify the best sites for permeable pavement, which can help reduce runoff and flood risk and improve water quality, and to work on designs for three priority projects, Granato said. That information then will be shared with others in the region.

Granato said the town plans to contribute $56,000 in staff time. In addition, $52,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds will be used to purchase the equipment to maintain permeable pavement. The town will partner with the Center for Land Use Education and Research at the University of Connecticut and hire a consultant.

A $150,000 grant will benefit a partnership between the town and The Nature Conservancy to look at ways to improve a road-stream crossing at Haley Brook in terms of both fish passage and climate resilience, said Granato. A $51,300 match will be evenly split between the town and The Nature Conservancy staff time.

The Nature Conservancy was awarded a $361,100 grant, requested by the City of Groton, to fund a hydrologic assessment of the Five Corners neighborhood, a project identified as the first recommendation of the city’s Community Resilience Plan, said Cierra Patrick, the city’s economic development manager. The $236,600 in matching funds will come from cash donations from The Nature Conservancy and in-kind support from the city.

City of Groton Mayor Keith Hedrick said that during heavy rainstorms, the city gets flooding at the Five Corners area and down to Electric Boat, so the city wants a study of the source and potential solutions, such as rain gardens, bioswales, new stormwater drains, or other measures.

Mystic Aquarium will receive a $118,000 grant, which will require $151,200 in matching funds, to create “an educational display with Public Art for Racial Justice about the problem of plastic pollution,” along with other outreach and education efforts to prevent marine debris, according to the Long Island Sound Futures Fund project document.

A $59,500 grant, plus $15,500 in matching funds, will benefit the Connecticut Invention Convention’s educational program for 750 students in grades 5 through 9 to develop solutions to improve Long Island Sound in under-served communities, including Norwich, New London and Groton, the document states.

A $198,700 grant, which will require a $49,700 match, was awarded for the University of Connecticut to work with the community on plans to restore habitat at Bluff Point State Park in Groton and develop “citizen science and education” strategies, according to LISFF.

The grants include $214,600 for the Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District, which will require a $90,000 match, to make improvements to a livestock farm in Salem to prevent nitrogen and phosphorous runoff, and $1.3 million for the the Eastern Connecticut Conservation District, which will require a $1.06 million match, for the management of waste at Valley View Farm in North Stonington to reduce nitrogen in the Sound, according to LISFF.

Grants were awarded to the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County to locate lobster traps in New York and Connecticut and to the American Farmland Trust for soil health management plans for farms in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, according to a project list.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said the funding for Long Island Sound has grown over the years and pointed out that if investments aren’t made now, projects will only become much more difficult and expensive in the future. He said one of “the big unsolved projects” is improving access to the Sound, which he called a crisis in Connecticut.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, co-chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus, complimented the Long Island Sound Futures Fund’s vision in recognizing not only the many coastal projects that need to be consistently funded, but also the importance of bringing in the agriculture sector as a partner.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation manages the Long Island Sound Futures Fund and collaborates with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Long Island Sound Study, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Long Island Sound Funders Collaborative, according to the foundation.

The Zoetis Foundation contributed additional funding.

k.drelich@theday.com

November 16, 2023 8:46 pm • Last Updated: November 16, 2023 8:46 pm

By Lee Howard

Business Editor - The Day

The most touching moment in a fantastic fundraiser last weekend at Ocean Beach Park for the Alewife Cove Conservancy occurred when co-founder Ed Lamoureux presented young Jack Perch with the group’s first-ever Outstanding Citizen Award.

Perch, you may remember, was the 8-year-old kid who inspired a vigil at Ocean Beach last summer after two teens from Glastonbury attacked a snowy egret near Alewife Cove, most likely killing it, though the bird was never recovered. The young men were accused of throwing rocks at the endangered species, tackling it and holding it by the neck.

Jack couldn’t abide the violence, telling his mother Annah Perch, who once led the New London Main Street organization and now is the development manager for the New London Homeless Hospitality Center, that he believed the principle of treating others the way you want to be treated should apply to animals, too.

“Those animals are like friends. The Golden Rule is for nature, too,” he said.

Lamoureux said those words should be taken seriously, and he wanted to honor Jack Perch’s kindness and consideration for nature. Not only did Jack receive a framed certificate honoring his work on the vigil, but Perkins & Murphy College Admissions Consultants run by Betsy and Tim Murphy in New London gave him a new laptop.

Thanks to Lamoureux’s good energy, the all-volunteer Alewife Cove Conservancy has been making headway in raising awareness of and funding for this beautiful waterway that once was teeming with alewife, a small fish that grows only a bit more than a foot long. The goal is to remove a small dam and dredge the cove, which divides New London and Waterford, to allow the waterway to return to its previous vibrancy, enhancing an area long known for kayaking and fishing.

The more than 400 people who showed up Nov. 11 for the conservancy’s annual fundraiser at Ocean Beach’s Port ‘N Starboard sure helped the cause, though it will take government funding and approval to get the work done. But if anyone can push it through, Lamoureux would be the guy to do it.

“In government, the squeaky wheel gets the grease and there's no more squeaky a wheel than Ed Lamoureux,“ New London Mayor Mike Passero told the crowd. ”We need grants. Our cove has to be dredged. We’ve got to take care of our greatest asset.”

But both Lamoureux and Passero admitted Waterford and New London are reliant on government action.

“We will not get it done unless we work together and we get the political powers that be in Hartford to get DEEP to know that this estuary is incredibly, incredibly important to preserve,” Passero said. “And we'll get there, we'll get it done, I promise you, we will.”

Passero pointed to the many former lifeguards and captains of the lifeguards in the crowd last weekend, and he recalled the time when they all referred to Alewife Cove as “the creek.”

“It's just great to join partnership with the town of Waterford on a matter like this,” he said, pointing out that Waterford First Selectman Rob Brule had planned to be at the fundraiser as well until a family emergency arose.

Alewife Cove includes a tidal creek and marshland habitat where kids love to wade in the summer, marveling at hermit crabs, soaring birds and small fish. To one side is busy Ocean Beach, with a wide range of activities from volleyball courts to restaurants and bars to a waterslide, and on the other is Waterford Town Beach, where swimming, sunbathing and fishing is the norm.

The cove area is home to great blue herons, ospreys, striped bass and the occasional eagle. I once spotted a horseshoe crab there, but haven’t seen one in years now.

The alewife fish live in ocean waters until spring, when they return to spawn in freshwater habitats like our local cove. Alewife used to be plentiful in the cove, but in recent years, particularly after Hurricane Sandy, their numbers were been cut drastically as shallow water and obstructions along the way made spawning more difficult.

Recognizing the problem, Alewife Cove Conservancy got its start as a nonprofit just seven years ago with hopes of making the restoration of alewife a priority for local politicians, and a lot of them attended last weekend’s event. The nonprofit will hear in the next few days about a key grant it hopes to receive from the Long Island Futures Fund that will pay for studies required of the watershed to support plans for dredging.

The conservancy also supports school and community programs that use the cove for scientific research, and next spring it is planning a plein air art event to invite accomplished artists to paint the cove.

In addition, Lamoureux told me Thursday that the event, which raised about $15,000, will help fund two scholarships a year, one for Waterford and one for New London, to help budding environmental scientists to further their education.

“People love the cove,” he said. “We have great momentum, we’re really taking off.”

Lee Howard is The Day’s business editor. Reach him with story ideas and comments at l.howard@theday.com.

By By CHRIS ALLAN, Special to the Times

Benefit bash Nov. 11 at Ocean Beach supports the cause

Alewife Cove is a naturally shallow estuary on Long Island Sound between Waterford and New London. It contains a tidal creek and marsh habitats separated from Long Island Sound by a barrier beach and dunes associated with Waterford Town Beach.

It is home to a great variety of wildlife such as ospreys, egrets, eagles, great blue herons and striped bass. The cove is a popular destination for fishing, kayaking, bird-watching, hiking, plein-air painting and photography.

The cove gets its name from the Alewife herring. As adults, these fish reside in the ocean waters, until springtime when they return to their native freshwater and estuarine environments to spawn.

Historically they were a plentiful food source in the cove for humans, other predatory fish, and several bird species. Their populations all over the Northeast have plummeted in recent decades due loss of habitat and obstructions, such as dams, to upstream spawning areas.

The Alewife Cove Conservancy, established in 2016, is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization dedicated to the conservation, preservation and restoration of Alewife Cove. The conservancy promotes and supports citizen-science and youth and community actions to understand and design solutions for the complex challenges facing Alewife Cove.

The conservancy supports educational opportunities for regional students to understand and appreciate the cove and its interrelated ecosystems. As an example, New England Science and Sailing and Waterford High School regularly bring local students from public schools to participate in educational and recreational activities. NESS is particularly proud of their efforts to provide access to the waterway for underserved students.

The upper portions of the cove are impacted by accumulation of sediments and organic matter. Impacts to tidal flow and decreased water depths in the lower portion of the cove have resulted from deposition of sand within the tidal creek from large storms, especially Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Shallow water conditions within the cove interfere with and restrict recreational kayaking.

The accumulation of organic material, shallow waters, coupled with poor tidal exchange results in the release of nitrogen, increased algae growth, reduction of dissolved oxygen, obnoxious odors and elimination of bottom dwelling organisms such as clams and oysters.

In 1987, the Town of Waterford was granted permission by the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the lower portion of the cove and to construct a jetty at the cove entrance to improve the exchange of tidal waters and improve habitat conditions. Post-dredge studies conducted in 1989 and 1991 by the University of New Haven and UCONN’s Avery Point Department of Marine Sciences showed improved habitat conditions for bottom dwelling organisms.

It is the hope of the Alewife Cove Conservancy that similar restoration efforts can be accomplished in the near future, dependent on additional field research and the availability of grant moneys.

The Alewife Cove Conservancy is actively seeking grant moneys to perform detailed studies of the cove to evaluate options to improve habitat and to restore tidal flow in the cove. Details studies, including water depth surveys, tidal flow and sediment transport studies, identification of organisms living in or on cove sediments, and sediment sampling and characterization are needed to evaluate available options. These include dredging to improve habitat conditions and to support applications to regulatory agencies for permitted activities.

As conservancy co-chairman, Ed Lamoureux recently had the opportunity to assist “Explore New England,” along with kayaking guru and The Day’s outdoor columnist Steve Fagin in an exploration and filming of Alewife Cove for an upcoming television episode.

Coming up on Nov. 11 is the 3rd annual ACC Benefit Bash. The event will be held at Port ‘N Starboard on the beautiful Ocean Beach boardwalk. The event includes live music, food, auctions, raffles and a cash bar. Tickets are available on the Alewife Conservancy website, alewifecove.org or at the door.

Chris Allan is a board member of the Alewife Conservancy. Your Turn is a chance for readers to share stories, opinions and photos. To contribute, email times@theday.com.

November 10, 2019:   Waterford group to remove dam to allow alewives to spawn

Published by The Day, November 10, 2019 6:35PM 

By Sten Spinella   Day staff writer

 email:  s.spinella@theday.com   Twitter: SSpinella927

Waterford — Alewife Cove has been difficult on its namesake fish for decades.

A dam installed in the 1970s that blocks the cove just north of Niles Hill Road prevented access to alewife herring spawning waters. So Edward Lamoureux, co-chairman of the Alewife Cove Conservancy, likes to tell a joke.

"They go out to sea for four years, they return to where they would spawn, they get up there, and the first one up says, 'Dam!'"

The Alewife Cove Conservancy is on the precipice of killing that joke, as it received a $187,282 grant this November from the Long Island Sound Futures Fund to remove the dam.

A news release from the Long Island Sound Study indicates that $2.6 million in grants were awarded to a number of local groups to help improve the health of Long Island Sound. This includes a $50,000-plus grant to the City of Groton to study risks and vulnerabilities to coastal resilience and develop a plan of action for sea-level rise.

Another $15,000 was awarded to the Niantic River Watershed Committee for a social marketing program aimed at reducing or eliminating the use of fertilizer on lawns in the Niantic River watershed in East Lyme and Waterford.

The $187,282 grant awarded to the Connecticut Fund for the Environment and Save the Sound, the two organizations working closely with the  the Alewife Cove Conservancy, requires $128,280 in matching funds from the three groups for a total of $315,562.

"The project will remove a barrier to fish passage, educating and engaging the community and students in project implementation and monitoring at Alewife Cove, New London, Connecticut," the release reads. "It will restore three miles of riverine migratory corridor benefiting alewife, sea lamprey and American eel that migrate between rivers and Long Island Sound." 

In 2018, the LISFF also awarded a $99,987 grant that required matching funds of $100,000 to the three groups to do the planning for the removal of the dam.

At the time, a LISS said the project would provide access to spawning, rearing and refuge habitat for alewife herring, as well as other species.

Lamoureux said the disruption of the alewife herring's ecosystem in the cove was unintentional but damaging. The dam was installed in Fenger Brook at the headwaters to Alewife Cove in the 1970s to create a pond near an apartment complex.

"What it did was, is it stopped the alewife fish migration back up into the freshwater watershed where they come from the ocean to go back to where they spawn," Lamoureux said.

An October column in The Day titled "Bringing alewives back into Alewife Cove" described the issue facing the fish — alewives, once abundant in North America, "are now greatly reduced in number, largely because of habitat loss and extensive dam construction that interfered with spawning migration."

Alewives have historically been consumed by other marine life, birds of prey and human beings. There are still alewives in the cove, but not like they used to be. Lore has it "that during the spawning season, one could walk across streams on the backs of the fish," the ACC's website notes.

Lamoureux hopes the dam removal will revitalize the cove's complex ecosystems. He recalls a time from his youth when alewives, along with blue shell crabs and other animals, were plentiful in the cove.

"I live in Waterford now, but I was born and bred in New London, and I was down in that cove every day as a kid," Lamoureux said. "I was pulling out bushels of blue shell crabs there, I was fishing and swimming, and we all grew up in, on and around the cove."

Lamoureux thinks support from the Town of Waterford and City of New London stems from those memories. An Oct. 12 event organized by the ACC raised $12,000 and was attended by about 325 people, many of whom grew up together and hadn't seen one another in decades.

"This Alewife Cove Conservancy has touched a nerve," Lamoureux said. "We're reaching across the cove and shaking hands and we're coming together."

s.spinella@theday.com

Click here to fast forward to the 2:55:00 mark where Edward and Steve join Lee on the air.