Five Mile River Stakeholders Workshop

The first stakeholders workshop for the creation of Watershed Based Management Plans for the Saugatuck, Five Mile and Mianus River Watersheds will be held Oct. 23, at the Rowayton Community Center.

The South Western Regional Planning Agency (SWRPA) will be working with AKRF, Inc., local stakeholders and municipalities located within the watersheds to develop management plans for each of the watersheds aimed at improving water quality in the three rivers.

The workshop will provide an opportunity for the community to discuss why the Saugatuck, Five Mile and Mianus Rivers are important to them and begin to explore how to ensure these valuable resources retain the aesthetic and recreational qualities in the future.

Workshop participants will be asked what they value within the watershed and how they would like to be able to use the river in the future. These values will be used to help identify projects and management measures to be included in the watershed plans.

 The purpose of the plans are to:

§  Identify management measures to reduction of impairments resulting from Non-Point Source Pollution and address the impairments plaguing the individual river as identified by the DEP'sList of Connecticut Waterbodies Not Meeting Water Quality Standards.

§  Incorporate the Nine Elements of Watershed Planning established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

§  To develop Watershed Based Management Plans for the Saugatuck, Mianus and Five Mile Rivers for use by municipalities, watershed organizations and local stake holders.