Protecting Natural Flows in Our Rivers and Streams
Increasingly, many experts are concerned that diversions of water from rivers and streams for various human uses are leaving too little water for fish and other aquatic animals to survive. Many dams also alter the patterns of stream flow during the year.
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection has revised proposed regulations to implement the stream flow standards bill that was passed in 2005. These regulations will provide DEP the authority to work with large water users and dam operators to see if they can alter their water release practices to more closely reflect natural seasonal flows.
The public hearing on the initially proposed stream flow regulations officially opened on Thursday, January 21, 2010, 9 a.m. at the CT Department of Environmental Protection Headquarters, 79 Elm St., Phoenix Auditorium, 5th floor, Hartford.
We hope you will submitted comments or, if you prefered, signed on to a group letter. This was our best chance in the foreseeable future to get adequate state standards for flow in rivers and streams.
Please take part in this effort, we need you!
Information regarding the proposed stream flow regulations is listed below. Please contact us if you have questions or need more information. We can be reached at 860-361-9349 or via e-mail: rivers@riversalliance.org.
HEARING REPORT August 16, 2010 Please note that everyone's comments are listed in the appendix of the report starting page 85. There is an error however in the links to actual documents submitted. There is a link for each document on the first word of the listing, but that link does not lead to that listing, but to the listing 7 down from it. If you put your cursor over the first word in the listing, the link should appear in a box near your cursor, it includes the document number the link leads to. For example, "Exhibit 42 Comments from Margaret Miner...", has the link to Exhibit 49, not 42. If you click on the link for Exhibit 35 (42-7) you get Margaret's testimony.
The listing of comments received on the DEP website http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2719&q=434018&depNav_GID=1654 has the right links.
Stream Flow Protection in 2010?
Fact Sheet (2 pages)
Stream Flow: Balancing Water Use for Future Generations (CT DEP Summary)
Proposed Stream Flow Regulations (pdf file)
CT DEP, Stream Flow Regulations (link)
Rivers Alliance’s Comments/Testimony