A ‘Magical’ Island Highlights The Reality of Save the Sound Report

Last week’s rather grim State of the Sound report issued by the Connecticut Fund for the Environment’s stewardship organization Save the Sound revealed that our coast might be in some jeopardy.

Years of compiling data to issue grades for Connecticut and New York resulted in the states receiving a C+ for combined efforts.

In the report introduction, author Tom Anderson wrote:

"Long Island Sound exists now in a state of permanent crisis. Lobsters have all but vanished. Oysters, carefully restored with infusions of money from taxpayers and the private sector, succumbed to two diseases and are only now starting to revive. Winter flounder disappeared. The water on average has gotten warmer; warm-water species are replacing coldwater species. Salt marshes are dying. And hypoxia returns every summer—sometimes bad, sometimes not so bad, sometimes critically bad."

The report looked at seven indicators of health of the Sound and we scored a C or below in five of those categories: low oxygen, raw sewage, storm water runoff, toxic chemicals, and stewardship.

In addition to these categories, the overarching concern of global warming and its potential to change coastlines has been a concern for CT Fund for the Environment’s Program Coordinator who lives in along the Farm River near the East Haven line. Johnson is a contributor to the State of the Sound report and he sees the issues highlighted in the report on a daily basis in his own backyard.

On Saturday, Johnson reported that he and his family saw a large adult terrapin turtle in the Farm River off the porch of .  “Terrapins,” he explained, “are supposed to be hibernating right now in the mud, with mean water temperatures for late December/January around 38 degrees.” According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Johnson said Saturday’s water temperatures were about 10 degrees above the norm for this time of year.

“As Long Island Sound is warming,” said Johnson, “and our Earth’s climate is warming – and there’s very little doubt about that – there’s a number of things happening … Our predictions are that Long Island Sound and the oceans are going to rise over the next 50, 60, 70 years. Scientists are estimating between a foot an half… and as high as three to four feet.”

How rising waters affect our coastlines was never more evident than after the near six-foot tidal surge of Irene tore apart many of the Sound’s barrier beaches and tidal marsh areas, said Johnson.

One such barrier beach, which exemplifies a well-preserved Long Island costal habitat is Kelsey Island, nearby Johnson’s home just about half mile up the Farm River.

Back in August, as the State of the Sound report was being finalized and before Irene struck the coast, Patch ventured out to Kelsey Island with Johnson to explore and observe what a perfectly preserved barrier beach is like.

The dunes of Kelsey Island, though small in comparison to open-ocean dunes, were several feet high to accommodate the natural small wave action of Long Island Sound.

The banks of the dunes were crawling with life and creatures were flourishing in the habitat. The island, owned by the Kelsey family for decades, is as Johnson called it: “magical.”

Before we had a chance to share the news on Patch from the summer trek, Irene struck wrecking havoc on the coastline and pushing the natural sand dunes of Kelsey Island some 30 to 40 feet inland.

Last weekend, we again ventured with Johnson out to the island to see the after affects of Irene and what rising tidal waters are capable of doing.

Much like the effects of global warming, Johnson said Irene brought increased tide heights, which destroyed the barrier beach of Kelsey Island. Unlike nearby Cosey Beach in East Haven, which saw more than 10 homes ripped from their foundations, Kelsely Island saw no significant structural damage to the many beach cottages that dot the shoreline – much like camps, these cottages are for summer use and many have lfew amenities, apart from four walls and roofs.

The way nature intended, Johnson said the barrier beach retreated from the coastline due to the high wave action. The dunes were demolished and the marsh flooded.

This natural reaction of the coastal land in response to the storm is not unprecedented, Johnson said. There is a tidal pond just beyond the barrier beach, which was formed years ago in Hurricane Gloria after a nearby waterway flooded the area to accomodate the extra stormwater.   

In looking at Irene and the after affects the storm has had on the area, Johnson is hopeful that people will begin to understand the power and fury of Mother Nature.

“That’s the hard part to wrap our mind around,” commented Johnson. “I think we want to think of things being exactly the same way they were when I was kid and that the areas on the beach where we built are always going to be safe and perhaps that’s not really the case with changes that are underway globally.”

Despite the reality of what a storm and/or rising tides can do to a coastline, The State the Sound report shows that Connecticut and New York are moving in the right direction as far as preservation of areas like Kelsey Island go. The report gives Connecticut an A in coastal habitat for restoring 834 acres, mainly of coastal marshes. Restoring the coastal habitat of Long Island Sound and preserving it will be key in keeping the Sound a sanctuary for both wildlife and for humans to enjoy in a recreational capacity.

Johnson also adds that this marsh preservation saves cash for people who live nearby. A study by the U.S. Army Core of Engineers, reported Johnson, shows that for every 2.5 acres of tidal marsh, $12,000 is saved for coastal homes. In the case of Kelsey Island, its 25 acres of tidal marsh are saving the nearby homes, on average, $120,000 annually in flood damage repairs. The buffer of tidal marsh and a barrier beach was not evident in Cosey Beach where people literally saw the sand and their homes swept out beneath them.

Storm water runoff, according to Johnson, is the biggest concern for a healthy future for the Sound. Branford knows about the effects of this water pollution all too well; runoff and possible water contamination were the causes of  at  this past summer. Storm water runoff also caused East Haven beaches to close this past summer as well.

Fixing storm water runoff problems in cities like New Haven is already underway, said Johnson, with talk of green infrastructure projects.

When it comes to oxygen levels in the Sound, the report does not give Connecticut great marks. But despite the low C-grade, Johnson said there has been some significant strides made in reducing nitrogen pollution. In the past two years, after most of the findings of the report were already compiled, oxygen levels have risen. Dead zones in the waters caused by nitrogen pollution, he said, have begun to shrink. New Haven’s efforts to clean their waters has contributed to this progress said Johnson.

In addition, despite below average marks on the report, Johnson said there are other indications that Sound is responding positively to increased stewardship efforts. Propitious, which have not been seen in the area in large pods since the 90s, have returned the past few summers.

So how can we continue to improve this endangered area? The report provides five steps for raising the grade.

1. Fully fund Long Island Sound federal programs like the Long Island Sound Restoration Act and the Stewardship Initiative to provide New York and Connecticut with strong support for clean water projects and climate change efforts and to save and restore the Sound's last great coastal space.
2. Control stormwater runoff through riverfront protection legislation, facilitating the creation of regional stormwater associations, promoting low impact development, green infrastructure and best management practices and providing low-interest loans for capital improvements.
3. Leverage federal stewardship funding by creating a dedicated state Long Island Sound Stewardship Matching Fund that will preserve and restore the region’s last great coastal spaces.
4.  Address expected impacts of global warming by incorporating sea level rise adaptation strategies into coastal infrastructure planning and beach protection.
5.  Create options that ensure a conservation sale of Plum Island to provide wildlife habitat and opportunities for enhanced public access.

Ben Lasman contributed reporting to this article.