Earlier this summer, New London became the first municipality in Connecticut to establish a stormwater utility which goes into effect January 1, 2019. This means they will begin charging all property owners a fee for their contribution to the city’s stormwater runoff. Previously, New London relied on property taxes to fund maintenance of their stormwater […]
Programs
The Slow Storm: Tree Mortality in Connecticut from Invasive Insect Pests
Tom Worthley, UConn Associate Extension Professor, Forestry recently wrote a compelling report (below) on Connecticut’s tree mortality rates, and how and why they are dying. You don’t need to go far to see what Tom is talking about. Just outside our windows here at the UConn Cooperative Extension building in Haddam, we were all saddened […]
CT DOT’s “MS4” General Permit
July 10, 2018 Presented by Adam Fox, P.E., Principal Engineer, Environmental Compliance, Contract Development & Permit Coordination Connecticut Department Of Transportation & Daniel Imig, P.E., Transportation Engineer 3, Environmental Compliance Section, Connecticut Department Of Transportation CTDEEP recently released an MS4 permit for the Department of Transportation (DOT). While largely similar to the municipal version, there […]
MS4 Permit Year 2 Tasks
June 26, 2018 Presented By Dave Dickson & Amanda Ryan, UConn CLEAR Connecticut’s updated MS4 permit begins its second year on July 1st. Now that a year has passed, MS4 towns and institutions may be getting the hang of things but with a new year comes at least a few new tasks. This webinar will […]
Is there any hope to fix our salt problem? Perhaps…
Another winter has finally ended, and messy roads and salty cars are quickly becoming a distant memory. Where did all that salt go? The millions of tons of deicing salts that get applied to our roads either wash off into local streams, or move into the local groundwater. Yet another research study has recently come […]
Dealing With Storm Damaged Trees
On May 15, 2018, late in the afternoon, a striking example of one of those “severe weather events” we see quite often these days passed through my neighborhood in Higganum. Severe winds, downpours, lightning and thunder all were part of a wicked and deadly storm that ripped limbs from and uprooted trees, downed powerlines and […]
Climate Change & Environmental Security Beyond our Borders
May 15, 2018 Presented By Dr. Mark A. Boyer, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, Geography, UConn, Executive Director, International Studies Association Climate change is the signature issue of our time, yet the topic remains one of great controversy politically (if not scientifically). Mostly as a result of this political controversy, the global community has made […]
What do you do after you scoop?
On my drive home last week I saw two of my neighbors walking their dogs. One of the dogs had just done his business and the owner dutifully scooped it up with a doggy doodie bag dangling from the dog’s leash. Excellent, I thought, he knows that dog poop left on the street can be […]
Another win for rain gardens
It’s well known that rain gardens are great for infiltrating stormwater but people may not realize that they also help destroy common stormwater pollutants. Several studies have found that rather than accumulating pollutants in their soils, rain gardens tend to biodegrade them instead. One study (LeFevre et al., 2011) investigated petroleum hydrocarbon levels in 58 […]
New Hampshire’s Green Snow Pro: Would it Work in CT?
March 20, 2018 Presented By Ted Diers from the NH Watershed Management Bureau & Mary McCarthy, Program Manager, Educational Outreach The State of New Hampshire has developed a novel way to provide for effective snow management and removal while also reducing impacts of chlorides on the environment. The Green Snow Pro program provides training and […]
NEW Connecticut Statewide Impervious Surface Map Layers
With funding from CT DEEP, CLEAR has acquired and made available on CT ECO a new statewide, high-resolution, impervious cover data layer. While acquired to support new stormwater regulations, the layer can be used for other purposes as well. What is it? Statewide, 1 foot resolution raster (pixel) data where each pixel is one of […]
Another winter approaches…here comes the salt
This is not my first blog about salt- in 2013 I detailed the problems we are facing in the Northeast with rising salt levels in our fresh waters in this blog. I have continued the monitoring in Eagleville Brook that I described in the past blog, and now four years later, I have the ability […]
Invest in map layers, make them accessible and work together – a cost saving combination
Mapping layers acquired by CLEAR through the MS4 project + making them available on the CT ECO website = big benefits for users including a surprise savings of at least a half million dollars for the state. Whoa. Read the full story written by Tyler Kleykamp, Chief Data Officer at the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management where he explains the series […]
CT MS4 Mapping Details, Clarifications, and Tools
October 24, 2017 Presented By Dave Dickson & Cary Chadwick, UConn CLEAR CT’s new MS4 permit includes several mapping related requirements. From mapping your stormwater system to determining where to focus your efforts, geospatial technologies will certainly be helpful in meeting your permit obligations. This webinar will (1) highlight the parts of the permit where […]
The Emerald Ash Borer Beetle on the UConn Campus
CLEAR’s Tom Worthley recently discussed the Emerald Ash Borer beetle and its impacts on the UConn Campus with UConn Today. Read the full article on the UConn Today website, link below. Big Changes in Store for UConn’s Trees and Yours
That Sound You Hear is the Hatching of Conservation Projects!
Last week saw the successful launch of the Conservation Training Partnership program, the goal of which is to develop and carry out local conservation projects around the state powered by teams of high school students and community volunteers. The CTP is an outgrowth of the Natural Resources Conservation Academy, the week-long program for high school […]
What is a CFS anyway?
Certified Forestry Surveyor? Calculated Fournier Series? A recent conversation (most likely over a beer, but that doesn’t really factor in here…) with my neighbor provided fodder for this post. We were mapping out our route for opening day of fishing season, and I commented that the Fenton was running over 150 cfs, so it might […]
Climate Adaptation Legal Questions and Answers
May 2, 2017 Presented By Juliana Barrett, Associate Extension Educator, UConn CLEAR & Bruce Hyde, Land Use Academy Director, UConn CLEAR This webinar will provide answers to a number of the questions raised at Legal Issues in the Age of Climate Adaptation, a conference held by UConn CLEAR and and Connecticut Sea Grant’s Climate Adaptation […]
Just Take a Screenshot!
At CLEAR, we work hard to provide geospatial data so that most everybody can view and access the maps and information. Inevitably, it is never exactly what everyone wants (sigh, I wish it was). One question that I am repeatedly asked is about printing or exporting. How do I print just one area of a pdf? […]
All New CT ECO Website (that’s the one with maps)
The Connecticut Environmental Conditions Online (CT ECO) website has become a central place to view and access Connecticut’s environmental mapping information along with aerial imagery and elevation. My head has been buried in the sand for the past few months (sorry if I didn’t reply to your email), but I’ve been working on the HUUGGE […]