About Us

CRWP was initiated in 1992 in cooperation with the national organization River Watch Network (now part of River Network). Over the first eight years, CRWP monitoring activities were focused on the lower Connecticut River main stem and the Mattabesset/Coginchaug tributary watershed.

The program collected extensive water quality data, and raised local awareness of river resources and water quality threats through public involvement and outreach. Information collected by CRWP was used by municipalities to investigate potential sources of pollution, by the

VISION
A coordinated network of volunteer monitoring programs for the Connecticut River watershed in Connecticut, producing reliable water quality information that is used to stimulate, direct and monitor river improvement efforts.


MISSION
To develop and support a network of volunteer monitoring programs in the Connecticut River basin in Connecticut, and to make water quality information more accessible to and usable by the general public and local officials.

state for planning purposes, and in developing a comprehensive management plan for the Mattabesset Watershed.

In 1999, CRWP expanded into new watersheds within the Connecticut River basin, and now has active programs in five areas: the Mattabesset/Coginchaug, Hockanum, Eightmile, Salmon, and Pequabuck watersheds.

The program is now a regional support service, working to initiate, support and coordinate community-based river monitoring, assessment and improvement programs throughout the basin. CRWP continues to put water quality and physical survey information into the hands of local communities, and support efforts to use the information to direct river and other watershed protection and improvement efforts.

CRWP has become a model program, with wide support from the local communities, and state and federal environmental officials. In 2000, CRWP received an EPA New England Environmental Merit Award for the program’s “outstanding efforts in preserving New England’s environment.” Program funding comes in part from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection through grants from the US EPA under Section 319 of the Clean Water Act.