Lawmakers Announce Bill to Protect the Lower Farmington River

Community activists and federal lawmakers are hoping for the passage of a new bill that will designate the lower Farmington River and the Salmon Brook tributary as National Wild and Scenic Rivers.

On Monday, national and local leaders gathered with community advocates in Tariffville to announce a new bill that has been introduced in both the U.S. Senate and House of Represenatives that would designate the Farmington River and Salmon Brook in Granby as protected under the U.S. National Park Service Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

The main goal of the act is to keep rivers free-flowing and preserve their natural resources.

"This is the culmination of a very long process," Congressman Chris Murphy said. "They have put together a document which I think will speak for itself."

The bill is sponsored in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Joe Lieberman and Richard Blumenthal and in the House of Representatives by Murphy and John Larson.

The upper 14 miles of the Farmington River, which stretches from Colebrook to Canton, was designated as a National Wild and Scenic River in 1994, according to the Lower Farmington River website.

"Our effort originally to protect the upper Farmington was really pioneering at the time," Lieberman said. "When we pass this law it will be part of Connecticut nature forever."

Let Patch save you time. Get great local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone every day with our free newsletter. Simple, fast sign-up here.

The Farmington River Watershed Association set out in 2003 to establish the same designation for the lower portion of the river which runs through ten towns: Avon, Bloomfield, Burlington, Canton, East Granby, Farmington, Granby, Hartland, Simsbury and Windsor.

The FRWA sought letters from the ten towns which resulted in a strong showing of support and the introduction of The Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook Wild and Scenic Study Act in 2004 and again in 2005, according to the Lower Farmington River website.

A bill introduced by former Senator Chris Dodd and Senator Lieberman was passed by the Senate in 2005 and a companion bill put forward by Congressional Representatives Nancy Johnson and John Larson was passed in 2006. Former President George W. Bush signed the bill on November 27, 2006.

Once the bill was passed, each town nominated community representatives to participate in the 4-year feasibility study. Approximatley 30 volunteers participated in the study which began in April 2007, according to committee member Sally Reiger.

Committee members met monthly to identify the outstanding resource value of the river including water quality, geology, biological diversity, and recreation, according to National Park Service Study Coordinator Joyce Kennedy Raymes.

"It's a scientific process in that you want to document all of those resources," Raymes said. "The ultimate task is to keep an amazing river like the Farmington [River] and Salmon Brook free-flowing."

Raymes said the bill would not result in any major changes to regulatory policy except that no new dams will be allowed on the river.

If the bill is passed, towns along the river would receive $50,000-$75,000 annually to be used to protect and maintain the river and brook.

"Today is really a breakthrough moment," Senator Blumenthal said. "We have begun another chapter in the continuing movement to save a free-flowing river that is the essence of what Connecticut says to the present and future about what's important to our people."

Blumenthal said the bill would not take away local control over the river but rather it will strengthen the control local government has by providing resources and by protecting the river and brook.

"We feel confident that this will pass both houses of the United States Congress," Congressman Larson said.