DEEP grant to tackle aquatic invasive species
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection recently announced recipients of the second round of grant funding through the Aquatic Invasive Species Grant Program.
Five local project recipients are among 15 statewide that will have a share of the $370,000 state grant to restore waterways.
The Aquatic Invasive Species Grant Program was made possible in 2019 when the state General Assembly established an Aquatic Invasive Species Stamp fee applied to all registered boats using Connecticut waters, according to DEEP. It provides a dedicated funding source for the Connecticut Lakes, Rivers and Ponds Preservation Account, which funds programs to protect the state’s lakes, ponds and rivers by addressing aquatic invasive species and cyanobacteria blooms.
“Aquatic invasive species are a serious threat to our ecosystems and have a detrimental impact on our outdoor recreation economy,” DEEP spokesperson Will Healey said. “These grants will help to fund critically important work that will help to control, better understand, and raise awareness about aquatic invasive species.
“These grants will help to preserve the quality of our state’s ecosystems and outdoor recreation opportunities.”
Local organizations receiving grant money are Candlewood Lake Authority ($31,104), Lake Lillinonah Authority ($12,374.79), Mamanasco Lake Improvement Fund ($32,100), Town of New Fairfield ($3,000) and Western Connecticut State University ($7,150).
Aquatic invasive species, such as zebra mussels and hydrilla, are a serious threat to ecosystems, according to the DEEP website. They negatively affect native plants and animals, and the dense mats formed by invasive plants make boating, fishing and swimming difficult. The current round of funding was earmarked for eligible control, research and education and outreach projects. The maximum grant award was $50,000.
Municipalities, state agencies (including state colleges and universities), and nonprofit organizations were eligible to receive grants
through this program.
Candlewood Lake Authority’s project involves education and outreach with its Candlewood Lake Steward Program to educate boaters on aquatic invaders threatening the lake. The goal of this project is to educate boaters launching recreationally on Candlewood Lake about best practices to prevent aquatic invasive species from being introduced to the lake by boat through educational materials and voluntary boat inspections.
“This was the same grant that we were awarded last
year, which funded the inaugural year of the Lake Steward Program,” Candlewood Lake Authority executive director Mark Howarth said. “Without it, the program itself would not have been possible. We were encouraged by last year’s Lake Steward Program results, which included hundreds of boats inspected at the ramps for invasive species.
“We were hopeful that the [DEEP grant] committee would choose to fund it for an additional year. The amount we applied for was awarded in full.”
Candlewood Lake is one of the most recreationally used lakes in the state and the largest lake in Connecticut at over 5,000 acres. The Candlewood Lake Authority will hire and train seasonal staff members to be present at public launches. The target species of particular interest include zebra mussels, hydrilla, water chestnut, curlyleaf pondweed and fanwort.
The Lake Lillinonah Authority has a control/management project for invasive weed removal. The Lake Lillinonah Authority has been working to manage invasive aquatic plant life on a yearly basis to improve the access and usability of the waterway by Connecticut residents and visitors from out of state.
The authority has identified water chestnut as the most labor intensive aquatic invasive species threat in Lake Lillinonah. The goal of this project is to reduce the annual bloom of this invasive species in an effort to eradicate the invasive species from Lake Lillinonah and reduce the burden on downstream waterways.
The Mamanasco Lake Improvement Fund involves a management project to significantly reduce the invasive aquatic plant curlyleaf pondweed from the 95-acre lake. Curlyleaf pondweed has infested the entire lake for at least 15 years. This weed has made the lake much less usable, tangling swimmers feet and boaters paddles.
The town of New Fairfield project involves research with the surveying and mapping of vegetation in Ball Pond as part of a lake management plan.
The Western Connecticut State University project involves researching the behaviors of triploid grass carp at Candlewood Lake and the impacts of overstocking at Squantz Pond. This proposal looks to increase understanding of the biological control of Eurasian watermilfoil with triploid grass carp using an underwater, remotely-operated vehicle and stationary underwater cameras.
The study will begin this summer on Candlewood Lake, where more than 8,300 grass carp were released between 2015 and 2017, and at Squantz Pond, where 585 triploid grass carp were stocked in 2017.