Norwalk River Habitat Restoration

Much of the "original habitat" of the Norwalk River Watershed has been altered or destroyed over the past 150 years. Population growth and attendant development, roads, dams, channelization, rip rap, sewer discharges, accidental spills, and nonpoint-source pollution from fertilizers, pesticides, road salt and sand, warming asphalt, and other impacts from human activities have led to the extensive loss and continuing incremental destruction of natural habitats and degradation of water quality. In addition, invasive plant and animal species - such as loosestrife and deer - are altering habitats and threatening biological diversity.

To slow this loss of habitat the Norwalk River Watershed Association, cooperating partners, and volunteers are working to implement and promote habitat restoration. "Habitat restoration" means undoing the past, repairing the effects of pollution, and returning a habitat to a self-sustaining ecosystem. Restoration usually doesn't focus on a single species but strives to replicate the original natural system. The goal is to help rebuild a healthy, functioning system that works much as it did before it was polluted or destroyed.

Sometimes restoration isn't possible. A development or highway may preclude that. In those cases, mitigation - which usually involves improvement and an increase in total acreage of the corrected habitat to "make up for" the habitat destruction or pollution - is the aim.

Restoration or mitigation activities range from the simple to the complex. They frequently include, singly or in combination, measures that may need approval from a local Planning & Zoning Commission or Inland Wetland Board, and they usually entail the following:

• Baseline assessments and performance standards,

• Long-term monitoring and conservation plans,

• The reconstruction of physical and hydrologic conditions through engineered activities, often involving heavy equipment,

• The chemical cleanup of toxic substances, and

• Revegetation of an area through native plantings or natural regrowth

Currently NRWA is partnering with the Ridgefield Conservation Commission to recreate more of a meadow/emerging woodland habitat on a floodplain and adjacent upland next to the Norwalk River at the River Study Site off Route 7 on the Ridgefield/Redding border. The project calls for the long-term control of invasive plants - such as black locust, bittersweet, and multiflora rose - the planting of appropriate wildflowers, controlled mowing, and stabilization of bank areas destroyed by fishermen. All parts of the project have been addressed, and present plans call for the final seeding to take place by spring 2003. This site is part of the Norwalk River Valley Trails System and is the area where Ridgefield fourth graders come to learn about river ecology as part of the school curriculum.

Those individuals or groups interested in participating in a restoration project should call NRWA to find out about its efforts and those of partner projects within the watershed.