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Indicators: Rivers and ReservoirsNo Swimming in the River
About 80 miles of river still receive overflows of raw sewage during storms.
Throughout the state, about 73% of wadeable streams are clean enough for swimming, fishing and similar sports. In fourteen Connecticut cities and towns, sanitary sewers were built in combination with storm sewers. During storms, these systems carry more water than their treatment facilities can handle, and a combination of storm water and untreated sewage overflows directly to the rivers and Long Island Sound. Several of these combined sewer systems have been completely or partly separated since 1990, reducing the impact of untreated sewage on rivers. The improvement in 2001 can be attributed to the completion of projects in the towns of Waterbury and Naugatuck. It also reflects greater precision in the DEP’s data collection and analysis. Connecticut's goal is to eliminate the effects of raw sewage discharges from combined sewer systems. Progress is slow because of the extraordinary expense of separating the sewers. In 2005, the Jewett City project was completed, eliminating overflows of raw sewage into the Quinebaug River. The pie chart illustrates the percentage of wadeable streams (that is, streams with perennial water flow and not too deep for a person to wade) that are estimated by the DEP to be clean enough for recreation that involves contact with the water. This estimate was derived from a sampling of streams around the state. Most streams are not monitored directly. | |
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