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The Deerfield River in Monroe, MA. Photo by Chris Curtis. The Deerfield River Watershed Association is inviting all residents and interested people to participate in a public meeting on “Protecting the Deerfield River.” The meeting will be held on Thursday, August 28, 2025 at 5pm at the Buckland Town Hall, 17 State Street, Shelburne Falls. The Deerfield River Watershed Association (DRWA) will present a plan for potential National Wild and Scenic River Designation of the Deerfield River and its tributaries. The Deerfield Wild and Scenic River Study and Management Plan found that five reaches of the Deerfield River main stem and 15 major tributaries are eligible to be designated National Wild and Scenic Rivers.  The DRWA is inviting audience questions, participation, and discussion. The forum is free and open to all. There will be a second opportunity to hear about the plan at an online forum coordinated by the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) and DRWA on Thursday, September 4th from 12pm-1pm. Update: the virtual info session recording is now available below. The project consultants will also be meeting with the Selectboards and Mayors of all participating communities over the next two months to present the plan and seek votes of community endorsement for the plan and its recommendations. The Town of Shelburne Selectboard voted on July 28th to endorse the plan. National Wild & Scenic River Designation In 2024, the Deerfield River Watershed Association received a Woodlands Partnership grant to study whether the Massachusetts portion of the Deerfield River and many of its major tributaries qualify to become a National Wild and Scenic River. The DRWA coordinated a local Advisory Committee, comprised of representatives from the towns of Ashfield, Buckland, Charlemont, Colrain, Conway, Deerfield, Florida, Greenfield, Leyden, Savoy, and Shelburne, which met monthly over the past nine months to guide the study. Consultants Christopher Curtis and Wayne Feiden coordinated the work. The result was a completed Deerfield Wild and Scenic River Study and Management Plan, which concluded that five reaches of the Deerfield River main stem and 15 major tributaries are eligible to be designated Wild and Scenic. This plan is an important step towards the long-term protection of the Deerfield River and its scenic qualities. We look forward to working with communities and our Congressional delegation to advance the designation of the Deerfield River as a National Wild and Scenic River" said Christopher Curtis, DRWA Vice President. The plan concludes that the Deerfield River is an exceptional river resource for many reasons. These are the key Outstandingly Remarkable Values for the Deerfield River that make this river worthy of National Wild and Scenic River designation: • With rapids from Class II-V, the Deerfield River offers perhaps the best whitewater boating and rafting in Massachusetts.  • It is an excellent trout fishery, with some of the best dry-fly fishing for wild trout in the East. It is one of the three best coldwater fisheries in all New England. • The Deerfield River harbors a large portion of Massachusetts’ trout population, and the upper Deerfield River is arguably the premier wild trout stream in Massachusetts.  • The historically significant Mohawk Trail ran along the river and was a principal Native American travel route, and the modern Mahican Mohawk hiking trail parallels some of this route.  • Historic New England villages are strung along the river, including Historic Deerfield, one of the few authentic colonial villages in the US, preserving a 330-year-old western Massachusetts village with 18th and 19th-century houses and a nationally significant collection of artifacts.  • The watershed near the Deerfield River hosts old growth forest, including the tallest tree in Massachusetts and the largest collection of tall white pines in New England.  • Several tributaries, such as Cold River and Bog and Gulf Brooks, are wild free-flowing rivers, rare in New England.  “As both a resident of and in my role coordinating volunteer water quality monitoring program for the Deerfield River watershed, I am deeply familiar with what amazing resources the Deerfield River and its many beautiful tributaries are. Wild & Scenic designation is a wonderful opportunity to recognize this truly remarkable watershed” said Ryan O’Donnell, Water Quality Program Manager at the Connecticut River Conservancy. This work is being done under a Woodlands Partnership grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Mo re information about the Wild & Scenic Study can be found here . You can also learn more about DRWA here . For more information, contact: Christopher Curtis, Vice President of the Deerfield River Watershed Association  413-522-5983, chcurtis89@gmail.com Wayne Feiden, Director of UMass Center for Resilient Metro-Regions and principal of Plan Sustain, Inc. 414-695-2748 Amanda Major, Events and Outreach Coordinator at the Connecticut River Conservancy 413-253-6855, amajor@ctriver.org     About: The Deerfield River Watershed Association (DRWA) is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the stewardship, protection, and restoration of one of Massachusetts' and Vermont’s most beautiful rivers. We engage in volunteer-assisted monitoring of water quality, river clean-up days, school programs and watershed education, mini-grants for school river projects, maintenance of the Mohican-Mohawk Trail, river restoration, advocating for responsible public use, and protection of the river from threats to its health and scenic quality. DRWA's newest projects include working with communities throughout the watershed to seek National Wild and Scenic River designation. The Deerfield River Watershed Association (DRWA) entered into an Affiliation Agreement with the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) in 2017.

Ken Sprankle and his team at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service track river herring through electrofishing surveys, otolith age analysis, and scale collection. Video by Alix Kaplan. Meet the alewife and the blueback herring–but don’t feel bad if you have trouble telling these two species apart. The alewife typically has a bigger eye relative to its body size, but even an expert can’t confirm a species identification without cutting the fish open. And these two have a lot more in common than their looks. Together known as “river herring,” the alewife and blueback were once spectacularly abundant here in the Connecticut River watershed. They both spend most of their lives in the Atlantic ocean, and they each got their start in a river. Alewife (top) and blueback herring at the Connecticut River Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office (photo by Jill DeVito). You may be familiar with other anadromous fish—like sea lampreys and many species of salmon, which migrate to the ocean as juveniles and swim upstream as adults to spawn. River herring are anadromous too; but unlike the sea lamprey, alewife and blueback herring can survive the upstream spawning journey and swim back downstream. Ideally, a river herring in the prime of its life will return to its saltwater habitat after laying or fertilizing eggs. This round trip is too exhausting for an individual fish to complete every year—but it might return to spawn twice or even three times over the course of its life. In fact, in healthy populations of alewife or blueback, many adults should be doing just that. But here in the Connecticut River, river herring populations are imperiled. Not many fish are making it back from the ocean to spawn, and only a tiny fraction of those have made the journey more than once. Like our other migratory species, they are challenged by obstacles like hydro dams and habitat degradation in river systems. But alewife and blueback herring may be in even greater danger from the human-made hazards they face in the ocean. Ken Sprankle and his team at the USFWS Connecticut River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office, along with other members of the Connecticut River Migratory Fish Restoration Cooperative, are trying to help change that. A Terrible Year for Blueback Herring I was curious how the river herring had fared during this year’s migration in the Connecticut River, so I turned to Ken Sprankle for help with understanding their situation. Ken compiles annual fish count reports from hydro dam passage facilities to keep track of how many individuals of each species are coming through each fishway on their way upstream. But river herring populations are in such precipitous decline here, he says the fish passage counts “are not really informative to us anymore.” For example, this year only 144 blueback herring passed through the Holyoke Fish Lift. Thirty-five years ago (before the sudden collapse of the commercial river herring fishery in southern New England), Holyoke passed around 400,000 bluebacks in a typical spring. And alewife herring have not passed through Holyoke at all in recent decades. Both species are “functionally extirpated” from that part of their historic range; they’re just not making it that far upriver anymore.  2025 Electrofishing research expedition in Wethersfield Cove (photo by Alix Kaplan). Fortunately, Ken Sprankle has another way to track the river herring populations. His team spends most of each spring out on the water, using an electrofishing boat to survey for migrating alewife and blueback herring on major tributaries in the southern portion of the Connecticut River valley. But Ken reports that 2025 was not a great year for these fish. “My blueback herring catch rate across all monitored sites in 2025 was higher than the 12-year low of our program last year, but still well below the same time period mean rate. We also sample alewife but at much lower levels; approximately 15% of our sample data is comprised of alewife. Given the lower sample sizes, inferences are more difficult to make."  Blueback herring fishing success rate per minute of electrofishing effort has been low in recent years (courtesy of Ken Sprankle, Connecticut River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office.) How Many, and How Old? To understand how a population is doing, the first thing a biologist wants to measure is abundance over time. How many herring made the migration each year compared to previous years? It takes a lot of work to gather this type of data over the long term. Researchers need to get past year-to-year fluctuations to identify a trend of growth or decline. But this work is crucial to help inform fisheries management decisions and potential restoration measures. Ken’s team has been sampling for twelve years now. And when they calculate the number of blueback herring captured relative to their sampling effort (how much time is spent trying to catch the fish), they find that in the past few sampling seasons their catch rate has been low. That picture could be complicated by high river levels resulting from heavy spring rains in recent years, because it’s harder to find fish in a larger volume of water. But the team has other clues they can use to solve the mystery of what’s happening with the herring. These clues are hiding in the bodies of the sampled fish.        Ear bones (right) are used to determine the age of sampled river herring (photos by Alix Kaplan). Beyond tracking how many fish swim upriver each year, the key to understanding the future of a population is to reveal its age structure. In other words, Ken’s team needs to know how many of these fish are coming upriver for the first time, and how many have survived to make the journey more than once. So how does a scientist measure the age of a herring? “To do that,” Ken says, “we need to extract bones out of their skulls.” The sampled fish are put on ice and brought back to the lab. There, a researcher removes two tiny, flat, Pac-Man shaped ear bones from each fish and prepares them for analysis under a microscope. These ear bones are called otoliths, and—much like a tree—they contain growth rings that can be counted to reveal how many seasons the fish survived.  That’s how we know that most of Ken’s sampled fish are young. About 60% of the blueback herring collected in his study are age four or younger, and fewer than 7% are at least seven years old. Ken says the maximum life span of a river herring is about fifteen years, but his team doesn’t catch fish older than ten. The age structure of this population is concerning because older, larger female river herring often lay more eggs than younger females. The super survivors are the ones with the greatest potential to help grow the population. And these days, in our region they’re not living long enough to do that. Ken Sprankle leads an electrofishing expedition on the Farmington River in 2023 (photo by Jill DeVito). Deadly Encounters with Ocean Fisheries It’s been almost twenty years since the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) banned commercial and recreational fishing for river herring in southern New England. And in the intervening years, habitat restoration projects have made the Connecticut River watershed a safer place for fish to swim and spawn. So why haven’t these stocks recovered? As it turns out, river herring appear to be coming up against the greatest obstacle to their survival in the habitat where they spend most of their lives: the ocean. While alewife and blueback herring are no longer targeted by fishing operations, they are still captured accidentally by nets intended for other fish. And they rarely survive the experience. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission  acknowledges that bycatch is a serious problem for river herring populations that are already severely depleted, and the New England Fisheries Management Council had proposed a now paused amendment process  to help address this issue in our region (See the Connecticut River Conservancy's  2024 comments on the amendment here ). So, based on their own studies along with data collected by fisheries, members of the Connecticut River Migratory Fish Restoration Cooperative are advocating for new regulations in the southern New England fishery. These would include stricter limits on bycatch, and increased monitoring efforts to enforce them. They also recommend fishing prohibitions in specific areas during certain times of year. And they have reason to hope such efforts will succeed, because similar measures have helped restore river herring stocks in Maine.  "These two species are resilient and have responded well to restoration measures under the right set of conditions,” Ken says. “As resource managers we are trying to better define limiting factors that are difficult to study in the marine environment.”  Dr. Kate Buckman, Aquatic Ecologist at the Connecticut River Conservancy, is hopeful too. “River herring play important ecological, economic, and social roles in our watershed, and we’d like to see those roles regain the prominence they historically had. The work of the Cooperative is critical to understanding what is impeding river herring population recovery. I’m hopeful that the time-series data in the river, combined with knowledge of what they are facing in other ecosystems, will lead to effective management changes that enhance survival and spawning success for these beautiful fish.” This article was the second in a series related to documenting 2025 fish migration in the Connecticut River. You can also read the first article about sea lamprey and American shad.

Roll up your sleeves and get ready to do some good for local rivers. The Connecticut River Conservancy’s (CRC) 29 th  annual Source to Sea Cleanup is back this September 26 – 27 th with flexible opportunities for individual groups to choose their cleanup day. The goal is to remove as much trash as possible from waterways, riverbanks, and communities to reduce the impact of pollution across the 410-mile Connecticut River and watershed, including the tributaries that feed the mainstem river in NH, VT, MA, and CT.  Registration is open for Group Leaders and Volunteers at SourceToSeaCleanup.org .     What began in 1996 with a small group of volunteers dedicated to clean water and healthy habitats has grown to a massive community action trash removal event. Brought together by a shared passion for trash-free waterways, countless communities, businesses, nonprofits, and families now participate throughout the Connecticut River watershed.   Group leaders organize cleanup events at trash sites based on areas of need, while volunteers donate their time and effort to remove trash from nature. Local municipalities support by providing dumpsters, waiving disposal fees, or collecting the trash from locations after the volunteers have completed their cleanups.   Trash tallies are also gathered after each cleanup, contributing to CRC’s long-standing database which is used to inform the nonprofit’s work in advocacy to reduce pollution, support river restoration, and inform the public and policymakers of issues affecting the environment. This event often includes participation from local legislative leaders.  2024's cleanup included 117 groups and over 1,800 volunteers throughout four watershed states, who collectively removed 39 tons of trash from rivers and riverside areas (over 78,000 lbs). A wide variety of waste was collected by volunteers, including 16,824 beverage containers, 475 tires, and 5,603 lbs. of scrap metal in addition to cigarette butts, fishing equipment, food packaging, and common household items. Since data collection began in 1999, 1,146 tons of trash has been documented as removed from the watershed —and not everyone submits detailed data!  A few photos from 2024's cleanup events. Many more photos and summaries are available in the 2024 Cleanup Chronicle. CRC will use #SourcetoSeaCleanup on Instagram to connect volunteers and is encouraging social media sharing of the cleanup experience.   “The Source to Sea Cleanup is an opportunity to get dirty for cleaner rivers, work with others in your community, and clean up our waterways and city streets,” says CRC’s Cleanup Coordinator, Stacey Lennard.  “When you pick up trash you are diverting that waste from going down storm drains and into the river system, which eventually flows into the ocean. You are ensuring that we keep this debris out of our rivers and oceans.”   Group Leaders who need help finding a c leanup site can check out CRC's map of adoptable trash sites. Or they can choose a site of their own by submitting a “Report a Trash Site” form. Parks, city blocks, boat ramps, and neighborhood hangouts are typically great spots to clean up. Trash travels, so even picking up litter off a city sidewalk can help protect wildlife and communities that depend on clean waterways. Group leaders are encouraged to scout the site beforehand to determine if it’s suitable for their group.  A handy Group Leader Guide is available for download on the Source to Sea Cleanup website and provides all the necessary information and forms for running a successful cleanup.  Connecticut River Conservancy would also like to thank the following sponsors for supporting this initiative – in some cases for many years! Lead sponsors in 2025 are U.S.A. Waste & Recycling Inc., All American Waste, Eversource, and The Walker Group. With additional support from Hypertherm HOPE Foundation, Antonacci Family Foundation, Ascend Bank in partnership with the Community Foundation of Middlesex County, Aquarion Water Company, Connecticut River Gateway Commission, Florence Bank, Fuss & O'Neill, Greenfield Savings Bank, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. Jamrog HVAC, Packaging Corporation of America, Savings Bank of Walpole, Silver Screen Design, SLR Consulting, Stone Environmental, SumCo Eco-Contracting, SWCA Environmental Consultants Inc., and Walmart in Hadley and Northampton.  For more information, visit Sourcetoseacleanup.org    To sign up as a Group Leader, start with the Cleanup Sites Map here .  For any questions about getting involved, contact Stacey Lennard at cleanup@ctriver.org .

Bellows Falls dam. Photo by Alix Kaplan. On Thursday, August 28th, CRC submitted our comments on the two separate Draft Environmental Impact Statements (DEIS) for the five hydropower facilities on the Connecticut River that are currently undergoing relicensing. This marks a milestone for one of the final actions in this thirteen-year relicensing process. It has been daunting at times, but we have witnessed numerous important wins over the years - many of which were reflected in this final draft Environmental Impact Statement.   The Environmental Impact Statement is the last major step in the hydropower relicensing process . CRC and many others reviewed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) analysis of Great River Hydro and FirstLight's proposals for relicensing the Wilder (P-1892), Bellows Falls (P-1855), Vernon (P-1904), Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage (P-2485), and Turners Falls (P-1889) projects. FERC will consider comments provided and issue a final Environmental Impact Statement sometime after December of 2025. CRC would like to express our gratitude for the many community members, municipalities, and partner organizations that have continued to participate in this relicensing process over the years. Over 60 parties submitted comments on all five projects!  You can read all of the comments by searching the FERC library here . Docket numbers are: P-1855 - Bellows Falls P-1892 - Wilder P-1904 - Vernon P-2485 - Northfield Mountain P-1889 - Turner's Falls Below are links to our comments and and a few from partners that we would like to highlight: CRC comments on Great River Hydro projects CRC comments on FirstLight projects   Great River Hydro projects in VT/NH: Comments of U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal Comments of State of Vermont Senator Wendy K Harrison Comments of Vermont Center for Ecostudies   Comments of Ashuelot River Local Advisory Committee Comments of Connecticut River Joint Commissions  Comments of the Windham Regional Commission Comments of the Mount Ascutney Regional Commission FirstLight Projects in MA: Comments of professors at University of Massachusetts Amherst Comments of The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Comments of Western Mass Rights of Nature Comments of Franklin Regional Council of Governments Comments of The Nolumbeka Project Tribal Coalition Comments of United States Senators Markey, McGovern, and Warren Comments of Ashuelot River Local Advisory Committee CRC's next course of action is to follow the process initiated by our appeals of the Water Quality Certifications issued by Vermont and New Hampshire , and Massachusetts as part of the hydropower relicensing process. We will not stop until we secure the best possible outcome for the Connecticut River and the habitats and people that rely on this vital natural resource. You can support this effort by making a contribution to the Connecticut River Advocacy Fund here. Wins in this court process will result in specific requirements that are written into the federal licenses impacting 175 miles of the river.

A volunteer collecting a water sample. Is it clean? It will now be easier than ever to determine whether the waterbody near you is clean for swimming, boating, or recreation.   13 years after the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) first launched the Is It Clean database to share E. coli bacteria results from water samples collected throughout the Connecticut River watershed, the website has been updated with a modern new look, dynamic user experience, mobile-friendliness, and predictive features to show likelihood of water quality conditions. You can see it live at isitclean.us .    Samples from over 250 locations throughout NH, VT, MA, and CT are collected by volunteers and partner organizations  between the months of May and October annually, most of which are processed at CRC’s water quality lab in Greenfield, MA. The results are typically uploaded to the website the day after sample collection to inform recreation activities for the public, as well as equipping state/federal agencies and policymakers with water quality data in their jurisdiction.     Users can search by region, watershed, or waterbody, with the results instantly showing the likely water conditions  based on past sample results and recent weather at each location along with specific sampling dates and results.    The results are also used to inform restoration and advocacy work  by CRC and watershed partners, including research related to Combined Sewer Overflows . Data uploaded to the EPA’s Water Quality Exchange may be used to support appropriate classification of water bodies.     Why E. coli?   While most strains are harmless and individual safety cannot be guaranteed, its presence may signal other pathogens that can cause illness from water contact, so this data supports public health and awareness about water conditions. E. coli levels tend to be higher after rain or during periods of drought, and with the exception of certain locations under certain weather conditions most of the Connecticut River and tributaries are generally considered clean for recreation. Want to be sure? Check the new website for the waterbody near YOU at isitclean.us .   This website update was developed by Ryan O'Donnell, Water Quality Program Manager at the Connecticut River Conservancy, with technical support and implementation by The Commons .

The Connecticut River Conservancy has been collecting weekly water samples to test for E. coli  bacteria in the Connecticut River and its tributaries. Some of the Hampden County sites in Massachusetts are heavily impacted by combined sewer overflows (CSOs), particularly from the more densely populated communities of Holyoke, Chicopee, and Springfield. Starting in 2022, CSO discharge reports have been made available to the public, so email subscribers are notified when there are CSO releases so that they can use this information when making recreation decisions.   In a poster session at the Northeast Aquatic Biologists’ Conference in February 2025, CRC staff Ryan O’Donnell and Melissa Langley presented on what insights volunteer monitoring provides for the impacts of CSOs on water quality, limitations in the data collected by volunteers as well as in the CSO discharge reports, and the broader impact of public notification of CSO discharges on public understanding of water quality in the Connecticut River.  Bacteria Monitoring   CRC staff and volunteers collect and process water samples from dozens of sites throughout Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, measuring total coliform and E. coli. The E. coli levels are compared to EPA recommendations for safe primary and secondary contact. Sampling results are uploaded to CRC's Is It Clean?/¿Está Limpio?  website to provide the public with data they can use to make informed recreation decisions.  Background on CSOs    CSOs are permitted releases of untreated or partially treated wastewater and stormwater into rivers or other water bodies from combined sanitary and storm sewer systems. Releases usually occur in wet weather due to the increase in stormwater and are used to prevent overwhelming the treatment system. CSO releases release contaminants that may be harmful to people and the environment.   In addition to the locations in Hampden County, St Johnsbury, VT, Montague, MA, and Hartford, CT also have CSOs. Some information on VT and CT releases is publicly available.    This diagram shows the impact of wet weather on CSO releases. Challenges   Bacteria levels in rivers are inherently complicated by many factors that are difficult to account for. CRC sampling occurs on a set schedule and is not conducted directly to measure impacts of CSOs, and the approximately 50 individual discharge points in the region make understanding the water quality impact of any one community alone impossible. Additionally, differences in the detection methods make the data difficult to analyze. At this time, Chicopee does not have automated detection for CSOs and depends on manually checking for evidence of CSOs and running a computer model to estimate the volume. The model may not always be able to estimate a volume of water released even when there is evidence of a discharge found during a manual check. Regulated flows on the Connecticut River and tributaries from dams may affect how long bacteria stay in different areas of the river. Overall, limitations on data collection, detection systems, and human impacted river flows complicate the question of how CSOs affect water quality.    Results and Discussion   During this study period, sampling events were designated as wet weather if there was significant rainfall in the previous 24-96 hours. Chart 1 below shows the total volume of CSO discharges in the ~48 hours prior to each sampling event. The biggest takeaway that we can see is that in 2023, a flood year, large volumes of CSO discharges due to heavy rainfall seemed to have a minimal impact on water quality; in 2024, a drought year, even small CSO discharges during smaller rain events appear to have a larger effect on bacteria levels.    Chart 1 Within the context of the full stretch of the river that CRC volunteers monitor regularly, the segment through Holyoke, Chicopee, and Springfield tends to have the highest E. coli levels  (see chart 2). Even with this stretch of poorer water quality, bacteria levels in the Connecticut River, on average, meet the threshold for primary contact recreation (swimming) during dry weather and at most locations during wet weather. There are a few sites that exceed this threshold during wet weather but they still, on average, meet the threshold for secondary contact recreation (boating). Individual results, especially in this stretch of poorer water quality, regularly exceed these thresholds (see chart 3).   Chart 2 Chart 3     Public Impacts of Notifications   The public notification of CSO discharges in Massachusetts began on July 1, 2022, and residents in Holyoke and Chicopee receive notifications automatically. They started receiving them when the notification law went into effect but without any context for what had changed for the notifications to start. Anyone can sign up to receive Springfield’s automated alerts by e-mail. At least two e-mails are triggered by each discharge location during a storm event resulting in numerous emails for each rain event.   News outlets report on the alerts which have raised concerns about the ongoing water quality in the Connecticut River. The public sees millions of gallons of sewage discharged and is understandably concerned without the full context of the scale of the river. There is mixed public understanding with what has changed is the notification of discharges, not that discharges began in 2022.    Conclusion   CRC will continue to collect bacteria data this summer, and the water quality monitoring staff hope to look further into the impacts and community perceptions of CSOs.

Sea Lamprey in the Saxtons River, a tributary of the Connecticut River, in June 2025 by Jill DeVito. When CRC Aquatic Ecologist Dr. Kate Buckman led a sea lamprey nest survey of the Ashuelot River in southern New Hampshire toward the end of July 2025, she explained to the gathered volunteers and CRC staff that the cobble constructions she had seen in Massachusetts tributaries were not quite up to the lamprey’s typical building standard. Beyond that, she had seen lampreys still spawning during the late June and early July surveys—which were intended to happen after the nesting season. Our group of community scientists didn’t end up seeing any live lampreys, as it turned out, that day on the Ashuelot. But we found very few freshly built nests compared to previous years, and that made us curious. Was 2025 a “bad year” for sea lampreys in the Connecticut River Valley? If so, why might that be? And how did other migratory fish species fare? The answer, it turns out, is pretty complex. So I asked Ken Sprankle, the USFWS Connecticut River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office project leader, to help tease apart what happened this spring and early summer. Ken compiles the fish counts reported at each of a dozen fishways designed to allow passage beyond hydro dams on the main stem and major tributaries of the Connecticut River. And he noted that overall, 2025 was actually a pretty good year for our migratory fish. But there were a few exceptions (including the sea lamprey), so we’ll come back to that later. Spring 2025 Was Cold and Wet The region experienced abundant rainfall during key points in the spring migration season, which decreased water temperature and increased river flow levels. As Lael Will, a Fisheries Biologist at the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, explains, “This is not a bad thing for fish, as water, and cold water are a good thing as opposed to drought years.” Ken Sprankle agrees that a cold, wet spring like this one may prolong the nesting season, which might even help some migratory species. This year, for example, American shad had a pretty good run.  Better Than Average For American Shad More than 324,000 American shad passed through the Holyoke Fish Lift in 2025. That may not come close to last year’s banner year over 437,500, but it’s above the long-term average of 320,500 over the past four decades. Those that made it all the way into New Hampshire and Vermont started passing through the Vernon fishway in the middle of May, about a week later than they did last year. We’re looking forward to finding out how many fish ultimately made it past the Vernon Hydro Dam, where the count is still being tallied for shad—as well as for the sea lamprey we searched for in the annual CRC lamprey nest surveys. A Strange Year For Sea Lamprey Last year in the Ashuelot, CRC volunteers tallied over 150 lamprey nests, including multiple large community nests. Kate reports that while she is still finalizing the data, this year’s excursion resulted in far fewer, with a preliminary estimate of just over 20 that could be confidently identified as new nests. “Based on our observations of late, messy nests in the MA and CT rivers we survey annually, as well as the reduced number of nests in NH, I am curious as to whether the spring rains and higher flows delayed lamprey enough that they were running out of energy and just didn’t travel as far, or if there were just a lot less lamprey in this year’s migration.” says Kate, “Passage numbers and dates can help tease out some of those year to year patterns as well.”  Fewer than 16,700 sea lamprey were counted at the Holyoke fish lift this year. That’s roughly half the long-term average of almost 32,000, and it’s a dramatic drop from last year’s remarkable total over 53,600. So what’s going on here? We’re not quite sure. One thing we do know is the lampreys that made it past the Vernon fishway arrived about two weeks later than they did in 2024. Lael Will notes that “when we have high flows,” it can be “harder for the fish to find the entrance to the ladder.” But she also points out that “sea lamprey numbers are highly variable and can be influenced by both instream and ocean conditions as well as how the fish ladders perform under varying flows.”  Ocean studies of sea lamprey are few and far between, but the population size in a given year may be influenced at least as much by other factors (for example, the availability of host fish species they feed on in the ocean) as by the conditions in the river when they head upstream to spawn. Not only that, but the lampreys that start their lives in the Connecticut River might end up spawning anywhere else along the Atlantic Coast of North America; and in turn, the lampreys that come here to spawn each year could have been hatched in any other East Coast watershed, making predictions of yearly returns more challenging.  Sea lamprey building a nest below the Wiley-Russell Dam in Greenfield, MA. To Be Continued A large number of ecological factors influence the population size of each generation of a migratory species – from the condition of juvenile habitat to the availability of food in the ocean, to the obstacles we humans throw into their path. In fact, it’s worth noting the same hydro dams that make the upstream (and for some species, downstream) river passage more challenging for our migratory fish provide us with the best opportunity for counting them as they funnel through each fishway. So we take advantage of this opportunity to keep our finger on the pulse of migratory populations. And we’ll be back with more information about how our other migratory species fared this year – the alewife herring, blueback herring, American eel, and shortnose sturgeon.

Scantic River at Rt 190 in Connecticut. [Press Release: July 30th, 2025] A group of nonprofit organizations are embarking on watershed-based planning for the Scantic River watershed. The Connecticut River Conservancy, Scantic River Watershed Association, University of Saint Joseph, and Save the Sound are teaming up to study the river’s sources of pollution and make recommendations to improve its health.       The Scantic River watershed spans approx. 90,000 acres in northern Connecticut and southern Massachusetts. The towns that are part of this watershed in CT include East Windsor, Ellington, Enfield, Hampden, Somers, Stafford, and South Windsor. The towns in MA are East Longmeadow, Hampden, Monson, and Wilbraham.    A community event was held at the Somers Public Library on August 6th, 2025, in which community members attended to learn more about the project, ask questions, and share any concerns, river uses, and hopes for positive change. Those who were not able able to attend the public meeting can still take an online survey  to submit their input virtually.    “We’re excited to finally kick off this regionally important project” said Rhea Drozdenko, River Steward in CT at the Connecticut River Conservancy. “The Scantic River is an incredible resource for the communities in the area, as well as the fish, wildlife and plants who call it home. This project will help us identify improvements for a healthy and resilient Scantic River watershed for years to come.”   The Scantic River basin has experienced water quality issues for years due to stormwater runoff, bacteria, and other nutrient pollution that have resulted in algae blooms, degraded habitat for fish, and reduced potential for community recreation. Project partners will work closely with municipalities to spread the word about the timeline and purpose of the planning process, and solicit feedback from landowners, nonprofit groups, member towns and communities within the watershed.    This project was funded, in part, by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The funding is administered by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.  The goal is to fully support the designated uses of swimming, fishing, and aquatic life in the Scantic River and reduce nitrogen loading to the Connecticut River and Long Island Sound. The process will provide scientific understanding of nutrient and sediment loads, identify pollutant source areas, establish quantitative water quality goals, and provide recommendations for specific restoration actions and best management practices (BMPs) to protect and improve water quality.      “When I first moved back to the area, I started volunteering on Scantic River cleanups and quickly fell in love with the watershed” said Dr. Kirsten Martin, Professor of Biology at University of Saint Joseph.  “I began the Scantic River Water Monitoring Program in 2010 to bring more attention to this beautiful but often overlooked river.  The Scantic River has an incredible history and is ecologically diverse, but it has lot of issues in terms of water quality. The Scantic project represents an opportunity for individuals and organizations in the watershed to engage in designing a plan that will support improving the water quality of the river and help maintain the ecological benefits of the watershed.”        Community members in the Scantic River watershed are invited to take an online survey  to submit their input virtually.    Save the Sound staff will also coordinate and lead volunteer streamwalks  of river segments to obtain a current assessment of river health. Data collected will include physical characteristics of the stream, visual assessments of water clarity and riparian vegetation, presence and attributes of outfalls, presence and severity of barriers, location of dumping sites, and special areas of concern.      More information will be made available through Scantic River watershed towns. For questions related to this announcement, contact:    Rhea Drozdenko  River Steward in CT for the Connecticut River Conservancy  Rdrozdenko@ctriver.org  | (860) 929-8021

Wood Turtle in the Connecticut River watershed. Photo by Kiley Briggs/Orianne Society. Let’s talk about turtles!  The Connecticut River watershed is home to 7 species of turtles, 4 of which are listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern in at least one state in the watershed—New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. These include the eastern box turtle, wood turtle, spotted turtle, and northern diamondback terrapin. Among them, the wood turtle stands out as a species of special concern and is recognized as a high-priority species of greatest conservation need in all four states, underscoring the urgent need for coordinated conservation efforts across the region. Turtles have survived since the age of dinosaurs. They have evolved to survive by being very long-lived. It takes years for a turtle to reach sexual maturity. Turtle eggs are often sought by predators, so turtles must mate and lay eggs many times before they are able to successfully replace themselves in the environment.  Unfortunately, turtle populations are plummeting due to collisions with cars, habitat loss, and illegal pet collection. Conflicts with cars and human development are causing them to perish faster than they can reproduce, with devastating impacts. Even the loss of one mature adult can cause a local population to collapse.  CRC’s Current Project for Wood Turtle Habitat Restoration   The Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) has been working with The Orianne Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of reptiles, amphibians and the ecosystems they inhabit, on supporting turtle habitat since 2021. This collaboration involves outreach, habitat identification and site assessment, and delivery of on-the-ground conservation programs designed specifically to benefit Northeast turtles. Additional project components including water quality improvement through reductions in sediment and nutrients, riparian buffer plantings to improve habitat for rare freshwater turtles—especially wood turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) and spotted turtles (Clemmys guttata). Added benefits of such restoration projects implemented for turtles will also help many other species including blue-spotted salamander, New England cottontail, American bittern, wood duck, American woodcock, American black duck, moose, bob cat and brook trout.    Connecticut River Conservancy, The Orianne Society, and CT DEEP Wildlife Division will be hosting a public program on wood turtles at The Sessions Woods Conservation Education Center (341 Milford Street, Burlington, CT) at 6:30 PM on Thursday, September 25, 2025. This free program will cover wood turtle ecology, conservation concerns, and how you can help! Please fill out this form  to register.    How to Support Turtles You May Encounter   Turtles can be found crossing roads from late April through early November (depending on location and climate conditions). May-mid to July is turtle nesting season, but turtles continue to move around to find new habitats and food sources. In the fall, they seek out a place to brumate (hibernate).  CRC's Staff Accountant Laura Herbert is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator who works with turtles as well as small mammals. Here is some advice she has to offer on how to help our chelonian friends:  If you see a turtle in your yard, just let it be. Turtles that are unbothered will not harm people (including children) or pets.  Due to shrinking habitats, more turtles are being found nesting in yards and along driveways. If you encounter a turtle laying eggs, do not attempt to move her or the eggs once they are laid. If you think the eggs are in a dangerous location, please reach out to a wildlife rehabilitator. Only under the most serious circumstances should a nest be moved, and it must be done by an experienced wildlife professional to ensure that the eggs are not damaged.  If you see a turtle in the road , and if you can safely do so, please help it across the road in the direction it is going. If you see a turtle that has been hit, please contain it and call a wildlife rehabilitator (resource links below). If you leave it there and call someone to tell them where it is, it will be gone by the time help arrives. Make a note of exactly where you found it. Don’t assume it’s dead or dying. Turtles can survive severe injuries with proper medical care and attention.    If you find a dead turtle in the road  during nesting season, contain it! Eggs are viable inside dead turtles for up to a week and can be extracted and incubated by a wildlife rehabilitator. Every turtle saved will help contribute to the health and vitality of our remarkable turtle populations and our watershed as a whole.    Above are some photos of the turtles Laura has supported, including the beloved snapping turtle, Oliver, who was hit by a car by the main stem in Northfield, MA and has since recovered and been released, as well as two beautiful wood turtles, one of which was a gravid female (containing eggs) which has since been released by MA Fish & Wildlife. Most of these turtles were hit by cars. Please slow down and keep an eye out for wildlife!     Links for wildlife rehabilitators in the Connecticut River watershed:  New Hampshire   Vermont    Massachusetts   Connecticut

Vernon Dam on the Connecticut River in VT/NH. The Comment Period for Draft Environmental Impact Statements Are Open! The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has released two separate Draft Environmental Impact Statements (DEIS) for the five hydropower facilities on the Connecticut River that are currently undergoing relicensing. This process is unfolding as the Connecticut River Conservancy has filed legal challenges for the Water Quality Certifications issued by Massachusetts , Vermont, and New Hampshire.   Environmental Impact Statements are required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA was signed into law on January 1, 1970 and requires federal agencies to assess and evaluate the environmental and related social and economic effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions.   The DEIS contains FERC’s analysis of Great River Hydro and FirstLight's proposals and the alternatives for relicensing the Wilder (P-1892), Bellows Falls (P-1855), Vernon (P-1904), Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage (P-2485), and Turners Falls (P-1889) projects. The DEIS documents the views of governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, affected Native-American tribes, the public, the license applicant(s), and Commission staff. The Environmental Impact Statement is the last major step in the relicensing process.  Here is a webinar recording from 7/3/25 to share more about this. Please note, the comment deadline has since been extended to August 28th, 2025. This DEIS reviews the effects of continued project operation and recommends conditions for any licenses that may be issued for the projects. In addition to the applicant’s proposal, the draft EIS considers three alternatives for each project: (1) no action, meaning the project would continue to be operated as it currently is with no changes; (2) the applicant’s proposal with staff modifications (staff alternative); and (3) the staff alternative with all mandatory conditions.   In the DEIS, Commission staff recommend relicensing the projects under the Staff Alternative , which includes most of the applicants’ proposed measures, as well as certain mandatory conditions and recommendations made by state and federal agencies and some staff-recommended modifications to further minimize project-related effects on shoreline erosion, aquatic and terrestrial resources, threatened and endangered species, recreation, and cultural resources. Draft DEIS for Great River Hydro Projects Historic Sign at the Bellows Falls Dam. FERC released a DEIS which examines the environmental impact of Wilder, Bellows Falls and Vernon facilities in VT and NH. In this DEIS, FERC staff identify the primary issues to be:  Shoreline erosion along the Connecticut River Water quantity, including how the volume of peaking flows and magnitude of water surface fluctuations in the Connecticut River affect aquatic habitat and recreation access Fish passage Protection of threatened and endangered species Protection of cultural resources   In addition to or in lieu of sending written comments, you can attend an in-person public comment session that will be held to receive comments on the draft EIS.  The primary goal of these comment sessions is to have you identify the specific environmental issues and concerns with the DEIS . Although there will not be a formal presentation, Commission staff will be available throughout the comment session to answer your questions about the environmental review process.     In-Person Public Comment Sessions July 17, 2025 Session A: 1pm - 3pm Session B:  6pm - 8pm   Bellows Falls Opera House 7 Village Square Bellows Falls, VT 05101 You can read the Great River Hydro DEIS here. Draft DEIS for FirstLight Projects Turners Falls Dam in Turners Falls, MA. FERC released a draft EIS which examines the environmental impact of Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage and Turners Falls facilities in MA, NH and VT. In this draft EIS, FERC staff identify the primary issues to be:  Shoreline erosion along the Connecticut River Water quantity, including how the volume of peaking flows and magnitude of water surface fluctuations in the Connecticut River affect aquatic habitat and recreation access Fish passage Protection of threatened and endangered species Protection of cultural resources   In addition to or in lieu of sending written comments, you can attend an in-person public comment session that will be held to receive comments on the draft EIS.  The primary goal of these comment sessions is to have you identify the specific environmental issues and concerns with the draft EIS . Although there will not be a formal presentation, Commission staff will be available throughout the comment session to answer your questions about the environmental review process.    In-Person Public Comment Sessions July 16, 2025 Session A:  9am - 11am Session B: 6pm - 8pm   Greenfield Community College One College Drive Greenfield, MA 01301 You can read the FirstLight DEIS here. How to Submit Online Comments Bellows Falls Dam in North Walpole, NH. The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing.  Please file comments using the Commission’s eComment  or eFiling  system.   eComment Option:  Limited to individuals filing up to 10,000 characters of text-only comments on their own behalf.   eFiling Option:  You must have or create an account and use this system if you are filing: On behalf of a company, agency, organization, association, or other non-individual Comments exceeding 10,000 characters Non-text material (exhibits, photos) or file attachments CRC's FERC Comment Guide for all facilities. CRC's Comment Guidelines for Great River Hydro dEIS. CRC's Comment Template for FirstLight dEIS.   All comments must be filed on or before 5:00pm EST on August 28th, 2025. Support the Connecticut River Advocacy Fund CRC has appealed the Clean Water Act §401 Water Quality Certifications in VT, NH, and MA to make sure that the state agencies do their job and protect our river for the next several decades. Your contribution is critical for the Connecticut River’s future. Wins in this court process will result in specific requirements that are written into the federal licenses impacting 175 miles of the river. Support the Connecticut River Advocacy Fund here.

Ava Gandhi, CRC's Education and Outreach Assistant, with a group of kids from STEAM Train Inc. on a boat on the Connecticut River. Ahoy! The Connecticut River Conservancy has officially set sail in the state of Connecticut – on the Connecticut River that is. Rhea Drozdenko, CRC's River Steward in Connecticut, and Ava Gandhi, Environmental Education and Outreach Assistant, have launched a new program this summer to provide educational boat trips for youth groups and students in Connecticut. Thanks to the Neag Foundation, we were awarded a $20,000 grant to provide this educational opportunity to children in environmental justice areas such as East Hartford and Middletown. Environmental justice areas are communities that are subjected to a disproportionate burden of environmental hazards and/or experience a significantly reduced quality of life relative to surrounding or comparative communities. By providing this opportunity, we are educating youth within these communities about how to take care of the river, assist them in developing a relationship with their local environment, and guiding them into becoming informed environmental decision-makers in the future.  So far, Rhea and Ava have worked with 5 organizations and groups including Compass Youth Collaborative, Middletown Public Schools, and Manchester Youth Services Bureau. We partnered with Slipaway River Tours owner Bill Keyt to captain these trips, and we launch out of the Connecticut River Academy in East Hartford, and Wethersfield Cove in Wethersfield. With these locations, the children have a chance to see an array of diverse wildlife and visualize how it interacts with urban settings. The boat trips are not only a chance to sightsee, but the children also get to play River Bingo, write in River Reflection Journals, see an Enviroscape presentation, and learn from informational talks about non-point source pollution and aquatic invasive species. On our most recent boat trip with Steam Train Inc., we were joined by National Park Service members Jennifer Lapis and Valeria Diaz to share a fishing activity! These boat trips have been an enriching experience for CRC staff and the youth alike; we are looking forward to hosting more boat trips as the summer continues.

Turners Falls Dam photo by Al Braden. [Greenfield, MA, May 14th, 2025]  Two environmental non-profit organizations, the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) and American Rivers, have filed an appeal of the Clean Water Act §401 Water Quality Certification issued by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) for two hydropower facilities on the Connecticut River: the Turners Falls Dam and the Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Station–one of the largest energy generating projects in the state at 1,100 megawatts. Similar appeals have also been filed in Vermont and New Hampshire. Any conditions set in the state’s Water Quality Certification (WQC) will be included in the 30 to 50 yearlong licenses granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). It has been 13 years since the hydropower relicensing process began, and once issued, the new licenses will regulate facility actions for a generation. MassDEP’s WQC falls short in the following significant ways: by not requiring adequate flows below the Turners Falls Dam to support a community of aquatic life and recreational uses; by failing to require timely and sufficient upstream and downstream fish passage; by failing to sufficiently address erosion impacts from the Projects; by failing to sufficiently protect the state and federally listed endangered shortnose sturgeon; by not ensuring the river in the vicinity of the Projects exhibits good aesthetic quality; and by largely ignoring the current and worsening impacts of climate change. “The new license will be in place for the next 30-50 years or more” said Nina Gordon-Kirsch, River Steward in Massachusetts at the Connecticut River Conservancy. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ensure that appropriate safeguards are put in place to protect the Connecticut River, a shared public trust resource that is the lifeblood of our habitats and communities.” After over a decade of research, documentation, submission of public comments, and most recently, a thorough review of the state water quality standards, the Connecticut River Conservancy and American Rivers contend that conditions proposed by MassDEP in their final Water Quality Certification do not protect the water quality, ecosystems, and recreational resources for the approximately 22 miles of the Connecticut River affected by these two projects, and as required by law. CRC and American Rivers, among others, commented on the application, the draft §401 WQC, and reviewed the final WQC. After determining that the water quality standards would not be met by the provisions in the final certificate, CRC and American Rivers filed a request for an adjudicatory hearing. “The issues raised in this appeal have national significance for how a state ensures that its responsibilities to the public and their rivers are met. While there are many improvements included in the state’s water quality certificate, there are significant shortcomings that favor the financial interests of the applicant over the requirements of the Clean Water Act” says Andrew Fisk, Ph.D., Northeast Regional Director at American Rivers.   As required by the Federal Clean Water Act and the Massachusetts Surface Water Quality Standards, water quality in rivers must support designated and existing uses, which in this case include “aquatic life and its habitat, water related recreation (e.g., boating, swimming) and consistently good aesthetic value.” With the Connecticut River already being challenged with habitat loss, severe flooding, bank erosion, and compromised recreation, it is imperative that the Commonwealth exercises its authority to protect water quality and designated uses from adverse impacts from the Projects.    CRC has been advocating since 2013 for the strongest possible license to support a healthier river over the coming decades. The conditions that the Commonwealth of MA places in this Water Quality Certification are the one way that the Commonwealth can protect this shared resource.  Without that, the Commonwealth is failing to “take all action necessary or appropriate to secure to the Commonwealth the benefits of the federal Clean Water Act” as mandated by their own regulations. “The Connecticut River is a resource for all of us, not just for those who profit from it. We expect that the Commonwealth will preserve and protect the River for all” said Kathy Urffer, the Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Connecticut River Conservancy.  The notice of appeal can be found here.   Update on 7/11/25 : CRC has created the Connecticut River Advocacy Fund  to support these legal challenges. Donations are welcome to help cover the costs of legal fees and empower our ability to fight for the Connecticut River in court! Contacts for questions about this announcement: Nina Gordon-Kirsch River Steward in Massachusetts Connecticut River Conservancy 413-772-2020 ext. 216 | ngordonkirsch@ctriver.org   Kathy Urffer Director of Policy & Advocacy Connecticut River Conservancy 802-258-0413 | kurffer@ctriver.org   Andrew Fisk, Ph.D.  Northeast Regional Director  American Rivers 413-407-6484 | afisk@americanrivers.org   About the Connecticut River Conservancy: The Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) restores and advocates for clean water, healthy habitats, and resilient communities to support a diverse and thriving watershed.   CRC has been a steward of the Connecticut River and tributary streams since 1952. Their programs include advocacy, aquatic invasive species management, dam removal, habitat restoration, migratory fish surveys, recreation, trash cleanups, and water quality monitoring. Together through community engagement and education, they’re dedicated to ensuring equitable access and healthy rivers for all. Learn more at   ctriver.org .   About American Rivers: For more than a half century, American Rivers has combined evidence-based solutions with enduring partnerships to safeguard the 3.5 million miles of rivers and streams that are essential to our nation’s clean drinking water, extraordinary wildlife, and strength of our communities. We know the best outcomes for rivers happen when everyone involved wins. Our experts — from scientists to engineers to policy leaders — work both nationally and locally to find comprehensive, common-sense solutions to the many needs of a river and all who depend on it. Learn more at americanrivers.org .