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Space Saver
DEP, RWA grants spare land from development
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Business New Haven
8/23/99
By: Priscilla Searles
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Undeveloped land in the Madison-Killingworth area has been designated as open space and is now protected from development by virtue of a grant from the state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) combined with funding from the Watershed Fund, a new non-profit established by the New Haven-based Regional Water Authority (RWA).
Once targeted for development, the 82.3 acres known as the Abbott property was recently purchased by the RWA for $475,000. A DEP grant of $171,000 was combined with money from the Watershed Fund to protect the land, a part of the Hammonassett River watershed, from development. The parcel, which abuts the Bramore property purchased early this year by the town of Madison for open space, encompasses 73.5 acres in Madison and 8.8 acres in Killingworth.
The RWA established the Watershed Land Acquisition Grant program in January with $1.2 million in seed money to be made available for grants. The purpose of the fund is to purchase open space to protect the quality of drinking water in this region.
According to RWA officials, increased development of watershed land can result in poorer drinking water quality over time. The purchase of the Madison-Killingworth property was the first grant awarded by the Watershed Fund.
A second purpose of the fund is to sponsor and support educational programs throughout the region for the protection of the environment and preservation of water quality.
The not-for-profit Watershed Fund, considered an innovative approach to protecting drinking-water quality, is the first in New England to be underwritten by a local water authority. Says DEP Commissioner Arthur J. Rocque Jr.: "It brings a bold new effort to preserving and protecting watershed lands to the Northeast. Never before has a New England water utility helped create a not-for-profit organization focused on purchasing watershed lands and presenting environmental education. This two-tract approach will help protect the quality of the drinking water in south central Connecticut."
The RWA, which supplies water and related services to approximately 400,000 customers, owns approximately 24,000 acres of watershed land in southern Connecticut.
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