Connecticut River

Category: Inland Aquatic Biomes.

Geographic Location: North America.

Summary: The Connecticut River watershed is a vital and diverse ecosystem designated as an American Heritage River; it is undergoing significant rehabilitation efforts.

The Connecticut River is approximately 410 miles (660 kilometers) in length, with a watershed that drains approximately 11,000 square miles (28,490 square kilometers). The Connecticut River is one of 14 American Heritage Rivers, and its watershed is New England's largest river ecosystem. The river is home to a wide variety of flora and fauna, including some that are federally endangered or threatened species. Human habitation began in the Paleolithic Age, with the area's rich farmland, timber, wildlife, and energy resources enabling population growth and development over the centuries. Human use has created numerous environmental problems, including deforestation, riverbank erosion, water pollution, alterations of natural water flow, loss of habitat, and species endangerment.

The headwaters begin at Fourth Connecticut Lake, along the border between Canada and the United States. The Connecticut River then flows through New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut before emptying into Long Island Sound, a lobe of the North Atlantic Ocean. The river's many tributaries include the Hall Stream and the Ammonoosuc, Sugar, Cold, and Ashuelot Rivers in New Hampshire; the Nulhegan, Passumsic, White, and West Rivers in Vermont; the Millers, Deerfield, Chicopee, and Westfield Rivers in Massachusetts; and the Farmington, Salmon, and Eightmile Rivers in Connecticut. The river is considered to be tidal for as much as 60 miles (100 kilometers) inland from the mouth.

The watershed ecosystem is comprised largely of forest cover. Other components include cropland; pasture land; water and wetlands; shrubs; and urban, rural residential, and industrial areas. The hydrologic system includes surface and ground water, bogs and swamps, and currents and tides with flows that range from gentle, meandering waters to churning falls, cataracts, and rapids.

Ancient and Modern Biota

Archaeologists have found evidence of the presence of dinosaurs and very ancient fish in watershed locations such as Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and Barton Cove in Gill, Massachusetts. The ecosystem currently supports a wide variety of animals, including more than 50 species of mammals, approximately 250 species of birds, more than 20 species of reptiles, more than 20 species of amphibians, more than 140 species of fish, and approximately 1,500 species of invertebrates. Shore and waterbirds live, rest, and feed along the watershed; migratory fish such as American shad, salmon, and blueback herring travel its lengths to live and spawn.

The Connecticut River biome also supports thousands of different types of plants. The presence of invasive species, such as the water chestnut, has disrupted the area's natural balance, leading to organized eradication efforts. Federal-level endangered or threatened animal species residing here include the American bald eagle, peregrine falcon, piping plover, shortnose sturgeon, dwarf wedge mussel, yellow lamp mussel, and puritan tiger beetle. Endangered or threatened plants include the small whorled pogonia orchid, Jesup's milk-vetch, and northeastern bulrush.

Human Settlement

Humans have inhabited the Connecticut River ecosystem since the first Paleo-Indians of approximately 12,000 years ago. The area's rich soils fostered agricultural settlements beginning with Algonquian corn cultivators. European immigrants arrived in the early 17th century, later followed by peoples from around the world. Early settlers cleared swaths of forest cover for timber, rural settlement, and crop and pasture lands. Connecticut River Valley farms soon emerged as important sources of food for a growing regional population. The area's oldest cities are Hartford, Connecticut, founded in 1635, and Springfield, Massachusetts, founded in 1636.

The river is navigable up to Hartford and is used for various shipping functions. The first dam was built along the Connecticut River in 1798. Beginning with the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, forests were cleared for development, while the river and its tributaries were dammed for flood control and energy generation. The area also has a long history of outdoor and recreational uses, including walking and biking trails, fishing, boating, and rowing. By the 21st century, the ecosystem had a human population of more than 2.3 million.

Human habitation in the region has vastly altered the ecosystem. Historical settlements polluted the ecosystem's waters with raw sewage, while agricultural and industrial chemical pollutants such as DDT, insecticides, and herbicides began to damage the ecosystem in the mid-20th century. Other major regional water pollutants include sewage discharge and overflow; nuclear-plant and stormwater runoff; and toxic spills from nuclear plants, factories, ships, and barges.

Dams along the river and its tributaries have disrupted the natural seasonal water flow, blocking the passage of migratory aquatic species, notably fish heading to spawning grounds. The Connecticut River features more than a dozen dams, and its tributaries host more than 1,000, many of which are no longer operational, but which still present obstacles to local habitat and migratory species. Water-flow changes from such constructions render useless the natural instincts that tell fish when to spawn, and trigger plants to disperse their seeds.

Threats and Conservation

The resulting environmental problems include disrupted fish runs and lowered numbers of migratory fish traveling to spawning grounds; soil erosion along riverbanks that results in sediment filtration in the water, lessened travel corridors, reduced food sources, and loss of forest cover for area wildlife; and change and loss of habitat and the endangerment of flora and fauna. Water pollution can affect the vitality of contaminated plants and animals, and can concentrate toxins as it spreads through the food chain as one species feeds on another; this is known as bioconcentration of toxins. Continued population growth and ongoing development pose deepening threats. The effects of global warming, which are projected to reduce snowpack, alter upstream snowmelt flow, disrupt growing seasons, and add to habitat fragmentation, will tend to keep this ecosystem off balance.

Threats to the Connecticut River biome began to attract widespread attention in the mid-20th century, with the river commonly described as a well-landscaped sewer. The environmental movement and subsequent federal legislation such as the Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts have heightened efforts to preserve and restore the Connecticut River ecosystem. It is today home to 10 federally protected endangered or threatened species. The watershed was further protected by its 1991 congressional designation as the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge and its 1998 designation as a American Heritage River by President Bill Clinton, becoming the first complete watershed to receive such designation. Both the Nature Conservancy (1993) and the international Ramsar Convention (1971) have recognized the watershed's tidal wetlands as areas of international significance.

Organizations and programs dedicated to the ecosystem's rehabilitation include the Connecticut River Conservation District Coalition (CRCDC), the federal Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Connecticut River Watershed Council. Rehabilitation efforts have included riverbank-erosion control, planting or protection of riparian buffer zones, improvement of water quality through wastewater treatment and other methods, and dam removal and the return of more natural water flow. Successes have included federal designations that the Connecticut River is safe for both swimming and fishing, and that portions of the river are potable. Redevelopment efforts have also sought to rehabilitate waterfront communities such as Hartford as well as recreation areas, seeking a better balance between human use and the natural ecosystem.

Bibliography

Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. “Connecticut River Watershed.” 2012. http://www.mass.gov/eea/air-water-climate-change/preserving-water-resources/mass-watersheds/connecticut-river-watershed.html.

"Connecticut River Conservancy Completes Shoreline Restoration in Old Saybrook." CT Insider, 24 Dec. 2021, www.ctinsider.com/shoreline/article/Connecticut-River-Conservancy-completes-shoreline-16722509.php. Accessed 26 Jul. 2022.

Hammerson, Geoffrey A. Connecticut Wildlife: Biodiversity, Natural History, and Conservation. Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England, 2004.

Nedeau, Ethan Jay. Freshwater Mussels and the Connecticut River Watershed. Greenfield, MA: Connecticut River Watershed Council, 2008.

Tripp, Nathaniel. Confluence: A River, the Environment, Politics, and the Fate of All Humanity. Hanover, NH: Steerforth Press, 2005.