Eastern Coastal Area Watershed

Introduction

The Eastern Coastal Watershed is comprised of 635,122 acres in southeastern Connecticut. This area, renowned for its rural atmosphere, rolling farmland, densely wooded forests, and fragile soils is the result of millions of years of geologic, climatic, and human activity. One of the most important geologic features of this watershed is the underlying till and stratified-drift aquifer, the predominant source of potable water in the region. Seven contiguous 10-Digit Hydrologic Unit Codes make up the Eastern Coastal Watershed. One half of the watershed is in New London County, fifteen percent in New Haven County, twenty five percent in Middlesex County, five percent in Hartford County and five percent in Tolland County. The watershed has 975 farms, of which, sixty percent are less than 50 acres in size.¹ Ninety percent of the watershed is under private ownership. The watershed is fifty-four percent forestland, and fourteen percent in agricultural crops such as row crops, pasture and hayland, nurseries, orchards vineyards, Christmas trees and greenhouses.

Conservation assistance is provided by three NRCS service centers, three soil and water conservation districts, and two Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) offices.

Physical Description

Approximately 70 % of the watershed is in the Eastern Highland Area, and the remainder in the Connecticut Valley Lowland Area. The Eastern Highland Area is a region of low, wooded hills. The highest points are little more than 300 m (1,000 ft) above sea level in the north and less than 60 m (200 ft) in the south, where the highland merges with the Seaboard Lowland. Granites, schists, and other hard, ancient rocks frequently show through the thin soil cover, and piles of boulders and stones, left by retreating glaciers, give the wooded Eastern Highland an often rocky and rugged appearance. The Connecticut Valley Lowland is broad lowland, which lies between the Eastern and Western highlands. The lowland is formed of reddish sandstones and shales, which are less resistant than the crystalline rock, found on either side and consequently have been worn down to form low-lying land. The principal river is the Connecticut, which occupies the lowland as far south as Middletown. There the river turns southeastward across the Eastern Highland. The southern part of the lowland is drained principally by the Quinnipiac River. Because the Connecticut River leaves the lowlands, the Connecticut Valley Lowland is not identical with the Connecticut River valley. Within the sandstones of the lowland are beds of trap, or traprock, which form prominent, steep-sided ridges. The ridges are generally forested and extend across the lowland in a north-south direction.

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Additional Information

• National CSP Program
• Enhancement Activity Sheet (National)
• Connecticut Enhancement Activity Sheets
  • Nutrient Management Enhancement Activity (78 KB) (HTML version)
  • Plant Enhancement Activity - Heathspouts (78 KB) (HTML version)
  • Plant Enhancement Activity - dropline (78 KB) (HTML version)
• Certification Sheet
• Payment Schedule (50 KB)
• Map of Major Roads (200 KB)
• Map of Towns in Watershed (200 KB)

Contacts

• Javier Cruz, District Conservationist, Norwich Service Center - (860) 887-3604, Ext. 300
• Kathleen Johnson, District Conservationist, Torrington Service Center - (860) 626-8258, Ext. 200
• Richard Kszystyniak, District Conservationist, Wallingford Service Center - (203) 269-7509, Ext. 205
• Raymond Covino, District Conservationist, Windsor Service Center - (860) 688-7225, Ext. 139
• Jan Dybdahl, State Resource Conservationist, Tolland Office - (860) 871-4018
• Joyce Purcell, Resource Conservationist, Tolland Office - (860) 871-4028

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