Long Island Sound Ecosystem Health Report Card
Ken Barton and Heath Kelsey attended the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Long Island Sound Futures Fund grant announcement reception in Norwalk, Connecticut on October 24. IAN was awarded a grant for the Long Island Sound Ecosystem Heath project. A report card for Long Island Sound will be created, as well as report cards for Hempstead Harbor in New York and the Westport/Fairfield embayment in Connecticut. Planning is underway for project workshops in early 2014.
Long Island Sound Report Card released
IAN and its many Long Island Sound partners held two simultaneous press conferences in Glen Cove, NY and Westport, CT to announce the inaugural Long Island Sound report card. Grades in the Long Island Sound ranged from an "F" in the Western Narrows to an "A" in the Eastern subregion, corresponding with increased development pressures and pollution towards New York City. For more information on the development of the Long Island Sound Report Card, and to view regionally-specific water quality grades, please visit the report card website.
Norwalk Harbor & Inner Hempstead Harbor Report Cards released
Two embayment report cards were released in conjunction with the Long Island Sound Report Card. The Inner Hempstead and Norwalk Harbors earned a grade of D+ and C+, respectively. Inner Hempstead Harbor earned moderately good scores (B+) for dissolved oxygen yet poor scores (F) for water clarity. Norwalk Harbor received a very good score for dissolved oxygen (A) but a moderately poor score for water clarity (C-). The three reports combined offer residents, resource managers, and policy-makers a complete picture of ecosystem health in the Eastern and Western Narrows of Long Island Sound.