James Harvey

Environmental Seminars

Instructor Diba-Khan

4/3/14

Anthony Irving is from East Lyme. He is a chair of the Eightmile Wild and Scenic Coordinating Committee and past President of the Lyme Land Trust. He also received a Bachelors in literature and philosophy, received a master’s degree, and is the founder and principal in Ecological services. He spoke to us about the Eightmile river and the lengthened process of 12 years that it took to get it designated and also what we could do to get a river designated. However, what makes the Eightmile river special enough to receive a designation from the president himself?

According to Anthony, the Eightmile river is a watershed that is 64 miles and 8 square acres, covering the towns of East Haddam, Salem, and Lyme. He explained that a watershed is an area of land that drains to a single point, like a bathtub and is a self-contained unit from a hydrological point of view. Watersheds also incorporate the various habitat types that occupy an area and precipitation gathers and falls to a single unit. However, what makes the Eightmile River that great of a watershed? Anthony stated that it’s because of its location because it is eight miles from where the CT river meets the Long Island sound. Other rivers like Thames also have a lot of construction because rivers were the building crossroads and were commercial travel ways. There was also a concentration of people. The CT river that flows into Long Island sound also picks up silk sediments and carries them down. However, from the Eightmile’s location, the water is shallow and there isn’t any commercialism, but, if it were in Thames, Anthony stated that its habitat wouldn’t be anywhere near how it is now. In  ABC news’ article UK floods: Alert issued as River Thames breaks banks, the Thames River even flooded in February “with water levels along parts of the river reaching their highest levels since gauges were installed in the 1980s and '90s”, and  ABC (2014) stated there was “$236.6 million in extra funding for emergency repairs and maintenance.”

In addition to its location, Anthony also stated that the Eightmile river is also intact, free-flowing, and virtually dam free. There are anadromous fish that come from saltwater to freshwater and catadromous fish that come from freshwater to salt, like eels, and fish ladders in the Eightmile river transport these species back and forth. However, Anthony mentioned that there was a mill that was used back in the 20th century that they bypassed because it was blocking the route of these species and there are also impalements that can create heat and warm the water up. The Eightmile also has excellent water quality and rare species. 85% of its forest cover is in larger, un-segmented blocks and population density is low at 87 people per square mile with 14,350 acres protected. With these factors in mind, Anthony informed us that there was a project in the mid 1990’s and a study was initiated on the watershed. It was felt that a cooperative and collective look was needed in order to be successful, but CT towns are independent. After five years of study and receiving information that they could gather, they concluded that the Eightmile was a special place and agreed that new strategies were needed for protection. According to the Watershed Management Plan from the Wild Scenic Program, “this initial group of local citizens, supported by The Nature Conservancy and the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension System, recognized that the watershed’s exceptional resources could quality it for Congressional Wild and Scenic Designation,” and “they also sought the Wild and Scenic process as a powerful tool for bringing multiple communities together to shape and implement a collective vision for protection of the watershed,” according to the Wild and Scenic Program.

With the decision of protecting the watershed in mind, why is it a good idea to protect the watershed? Growth pressures, fragmentation, and parcelization. Anthony also mentioned that there was storm water runoff and that the CT River used to be a dump with there’s silk, sand, and oils before the Clean River Act. One bad storm also had tons sand salts from the roads, amongst other things run into the river. Then there’s water withdrawal where people had to limit their withdrawals in the later summer months for other rivers. Even today, people can draw too many gallons of water, which can cause the rivers to dry up, like the Brooke river. Impervious services are also a problem with roads, driveways, parking lots. During storms or even showers, all the water runs off at once and creates flushes; according to Anthony, the greater the impervious surfaces, the greater the flushes. He also stated that flushes come too and that over time, there isn’t that much water to add because of it and, as a result, the water level is a little lower than it should be. It’s also best to deal these things before they happen and recognize what you have, in Anthony’s opinion, and the Wild & Senic designation provides tools and resources to help protect the watershed and manage compatible growth.

In addition, Anthony also mentioned what these studies involve because one cannot just claim that a river needs proper protection. There’s science that’s used to determine if the river meets the specific criteria outline by Congress – and describe what makes the river so special. People have to prove that it’s not only special but REALLY special where it can be protected and to have at least one outstanding resource values, but the Eightmile river actually has six, which is what makes it so valuable.  There’s also planning to develop a publically supported management plan that protects the resource values. Anthony stated to have a watershed management protection plan because it’s the water coming into the river that determines its quality and we can’t protect the river by protecting the river. We have to protect the system in which it functions. You also have to prove that there is community support and commitment to the protection of the river. According to Anthony, what we’re voting for is a proactive approach to the river system, but we have to do something about it and not just vote for it.

To continue on, the Eightmile received unanimous votes from three towns for designation and, in The Courant’s article The Eightmile River Arrives “President Bush signed a bill into law Thursday officially incorporating Connecticut's Eightmile River into the National Wild and Scenic River system.” In addition, The Courant (2008) also stated “there were detailed inventories of cultural, historic and natural assets in the 62-square-mile watershed. A multitown watershed management plan was drafted and approved by residents of the member towns. And, of course, there were countless committee meetings and public hearings.” As stated before, that information is exactly what we need if we want to have a river designated and protected and the process took a long 12 years to be completed. However, sometimes starting a plan isn’t that easy because Anthony stated that we need to make sure that the designation is good for the goals of the community because it is really time consuming. There needs to be community participation; town boards, commissions, and agencies need to be included because they will be doing most of the implementing; a committee of smart people, caring people, and motivated people of diverse skills also needs to be formed and be able to work together. Above all, Anthony stated that we need to be patient and be steady, take the time to do things right, and feel satisfaction in what is being accomplished. A person not going to do something for 12 years if they don’t like it.

In conclusion, I was surprised by the amount of work and the lengthened process it took in order to have The Eightmile river the river that it is today. However, what really took me aback is that we actually played a significant part in the safety of rivers and streams from the Rapid-bio Assessment that we did before. Rapid-bio assessments are important in getting the Eightmile river where it is now because we are studying what species inhabit the waters and we can base the water quality based on the types of species that live in the waters because of the type of water that they generally live in; undesirable species being an example. So, in turn, we’re actually a part of history and we’re actually making a difference, which brings a great feeling of accomplishment.

Sources:

ABC News (2014, Feb 11). UK floods: Alert issued as River Thames breaks banks. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-11/uk-britain-river-thames-on-flood-alert/5250986

Wild and Scenic Watershed. Watershed Management Plan. Retrieved from http://eightmileriver.org/wild-scenic-program-overview/

The Courant (2008, May 21). Eightmile River Arrives. Retrieved from http://articles.courant.com/2008-05-21/news/eighmile.art_1_watershed-scenic-river-system-public-hearings