Pomperaug River, Connecticut

Status: Completed

Developing a Sustainable Management Plan for the Pomperaug River Watershed
Final report: Pomperaug

Sponsored by the Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition (www.pomperaug.org) and the Connecticut Dept. of Environmental Protection

The Pomperaug River watershed, located in central Connecticut, has a total area of 233 km2. The river has high quality groundwater and surface waters, and more than half of the basin is forested. Rapid population growth, and high per capita water use, has increased demand on the Pomperaug aquifer. The purpose of this study is: 1) to evaluate the low-flow related stresses to physical habitat and fish community, variables which affect the health of the ecosystem, and 2) to determine ecologically viable objectives for a management plan for the Pomperaug River watershed. The study includes models for a reference fish community and instream habitat, created using the MesoHABSIM approach. We determined the greatest habitat limitations exist for Atlantic salmon and longnose dace and simulated enhancements of fish habitat that would better support reference fish fauna. Habitat patterns in the time series unveiled thresholds for the magnitude, frequency, and duration of rare, critical, and common habitat events. Subsequently, the change in stress days was used as a metric for the comparison of four scenarios, including present conditions and a simulation of the full development of the watershed. These were applied to develop flow management and habitat enhancements recommendations.

Click here to see final report.

Appendix 1 - Reference Fish Community
Appendix 2 - Fish Survey
Appendix 3 - Habitat Suitability
Appendix 4 - Habitat Survey
Appendix 5 - HMU Maps
Appendix 6a - Adult Suitability Maps
Appendix 6b - Spawning Suitability Maps
Appendix 7 - Rating Curves
Appendix 8 - Habitat Time Series Analysis
Appendix 9 - Verification of model transferability
Appendix 10 - Simulated Habitat Improvement Measures