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Southbury, CT, February 27, 2007—Audubon Connecticut, a member of the Clean Water Investment Coalition, joins with lawmakers, business leaders, and other environmentalists today as they appeal to the General Assembly to restore funding for the state's Clean Water Fund.

The Clean Water Fund is a key step in preserving the health of the Long Island Sound, as well as Connecticut’s rivers, streams and lakes, and Audubon supports the Coalition’s appeal for a $157 million re-investment in the fund.

For the past 30 years Connecticut has been a national leader in water pollution control efforts. The combination of almost $1 billion in state general obligation bonds and federal funds made available to municipalities through the clean water fund made the program the third largest public work program in the state, and resulted in significant gains in water quality.

These improvements include: reducing nitrogen discharge into the Sound by more than one third since 1990; reducing the number of combined sewage overflows that send raw sewage directly into rivers or the Sound by almost half; and replacing or upgrading outmoded sewage treatment plants and failing pipes.

Unfortunately, the progress has halted as funding for the Clean Water Fund has all but dried up.

Since 2003, the General Assembly has been diverting funds from the state’s water pollution control programs to make up for budget shortfalls. Last year, the General Assembly came close to approving $70 million that would have put the program back on track toward meeting its goals of eliminating raw sewage discharges into our waterways by 2020 and reducing nitrogen discharges into the Sound by 58.5% by 2014. “The $20 million that was ultimately authorized last year is greatly appreciated, but will only allow DEP to fund one out of every five competitively approved projects last year and one out of seven this year, leaving the prospect of clean water further and further away”, said Tom Baptist, executive director of Audubon Connecticut. “We are already seeing the effects of these funding shortfalls” Baptist said.

In November 2005, citing a lack of CWF funding for nitrogen reduction projects, the DEP was forced to revise its General Permit standards to allow 1.5 million more pounds of nitrogen to be discharged into the waters of the state and ultimately into Long Island Sound each year than would have been previously allowed.

“Audubon and other organizations opposed this change, but we did not prevail,” says Baptist. “Without adequate funding for the Clean Water Fund, DEP knew it couldn’t reach its goal. This set back is due solely to the lack of funding available for previously planned water pollution control projects.”

According to Baptist, under revised standards, the state will no longer be able to meet its commitment to a 58.5% reduction in nitrogen discharge into the Sound by 2014.

The excess nitrogen now flowing into this federally designated Estuary of National Significance is a key contributor to hypoxia, the warm weather depletion of oxygen that kills marine life and creates an extensive Dead Zone in the western Sound each summer. Hypoxia is considered the chief threat to water quality in Long Island Sound. Since 1987, the maximum area of hypoxia in the Sound has averaged 203 square miles and lasted for an average of 58 days.

“Imagine if every year, toward the end of summer, Bridgeport, Danbury, Middletown, New Haven, New London, Norwalk, and Stamford all ran out of oxygen and, for two months, could no longer support life,” says Baptist. “That is what is happening in Long Island Sound.”

Connecticut’s Clean Water Fund has made possible great progress over the past 30 years, but the state is still far from reaching the goal of sewage-free waters for fishing, swimming and boating. Further delay in restoring funds for this program only adds to the ultimate cost. With each passing month, it is harder to get back on track and the cost of meeting goals gets higher and higher.

Audubon Connecticut urges support of full funding for the Clean Water Fund and re-commit to the future of clean water in Connecticut.

"This is an issue that affects everyone in Connecticut," says Baptist. "We owe it to future generations to leave a legacy of clean, pure water, and with the help of the current budget surplus, we have the opportunity to accomplish our goal."

For more information on Audubon Connecticut and their position on the Clean Water Fund, please contact Carolyn Hughes at 203-264-5098 or chughes@audubon.org.

Audubon Connecticut is the state organization of the National Audubon Society with more than 10,000 members statewide. Audubon works to protect birds, other wildlife and their habitats using education, science and conservation, and legislative advocacy for the benefit of people and the earth’s biological diversity.