“The Natchaug Watershed Basin – Water for People and Nature”

The eighth annual Thames River Basin Partnership Floating Workshop was held on June 13, 2008 in Mansfield, CT.  Click here for a photo album of this event. 

The Natchaug River is the least impacted of all the Thames River regional watershed basins.  The water is managed for multiple purposes and new proposed uses are being reviewed:

• Drinking Water Supply

• Flood control 

• Fisheries management

• Hydropower

• Recreation

• Wildlife habitat      

While some uses are compatible, others are conflicting.  This benchmark river system and efforts to protect and enhance it was the subject of the 2008 Thames River Basin Partnership Floating Workshop.

Keynote speaker for this year’s event was Mark Smith, Director of The Nature Conservancy’s Eastern US Freshwater Program.  The Freshwater Program works with the Conservancy’s fourteen State Programs from Virginia to Maine to develop and implement conservation strategies to protect the natural biodiversity of freshwater systems.  

Click here for a list of all the Floating Workshop VIII Presenters.

This watershed contains a high amount of forested land.  Natchaug regional watershed land cover maps and statistics can be viewed at the UCONN Center for Landuse Education and Research (CLEAR) website by clicking here.

Click on the following links more information on the Natchaug River watershed.

• Conservation Efforts

• Conservation Strategies

• Special Places and Habitats

• Forests and Their Watershed Protection Values

• Riparian Buffers for Water Quality Protection

• Controlling Invasive Species in the Water and on the Land

• Natchaug Watershed Fisheries Management

• Hydroelectric Power Generation

• Willimantic Public Water Supply Watershed Area

• Watershed Issues

The Natchaug River and its contributing streams truly is a watershed that serves both people and nature.  With careful planning and continued inter-municipal and inter-agency cooperation, this watershed will should continue to provide quality drinking water, plentiful recreational opportunities and other services to man while providing quality natural in-stream habitats.

In Willimantic, the Natchaug River joins with the Willimantic River and the waters continue on their journey towards Long Island Sound as the Shetucket River.  The Shetucket River was the focus of the 2007 Thames River Basin Partnership Floating Workshop.