A crucial flood monitoring system used for 46 years on the Connecticut River in Middletown was shut down Friday because of a lack of federal funding, according to a meteorologist from the National Weather Service.

Exide Group Inc., under orders from the state DEEP to remove the lead that was leaked from its Post Road factory for 30 years, has been conducting informational meetings with residents and town officials in preparation for a formal hearing before the DEEP in either February or March for permits for its plan. The Connecticut Post reports.

The town of Southington is about to embark on an expensive project, courtesy of a federal mandate requiring the state to address high levels of phosphorus in its rivers and streams.

Construction of a fish bypass in the Naugatuck River could finally begin this spring. It has been in the works for 14 years. The Board of Selectmen last week voted on two final components that were holding up the project. The New Haven Register reports.

One of the largest wetlands-restoration efforts in a Connecticut urban area is under way along the West River between Route 1 and Chapel Street, where three new self-regulating tide gates soon will restore more natural salinity to 50 acres of lush tidal marsh. The New Haven Register reports.

The group’s mission is to abate and prevent pollution of the Niantic River, a unique estuary, and its watershed, which includes parts of East Lyme, Montville, Salem and Waterford.

The town will host a meeting on a preliminary master plan for the Farmington River in Collinsville on Thursday night. The plan includes recommendations for the town to pursue in the future, including fishing areas, artificial habitat, traffic calming measures, public boating and swimming access and additional trail opportunities. Canton Patch reports.

On Saturday, October 15th, The Housatonic Valley Association and the Roxbury Conservation Commission will host the 3rd annual ‘Shepaug River Critter Assessment.’ During this fun, family friendly activity, community members will work together to assess the health of the Shepaug River by collecting ‘river critters’ or small insects collectively referred to as ‘macroinvertebrates,’ at several locations along the river and its major tributaries in Roxbury and Washington.

More than 1,500 volunteers in four states will fan out on Saturday Oct. 1 to clean up trash and flood-strewn debris along the Connecticut River and its tributaries. The Connecticut River Watershed Council’s 15th Annual Source to Sea Cleanup – always held in early fall – comes at a perfect time to help communities in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut that are still cleaning up from Tropical Storm Irene. Click this environmental headline for more on this story.

About 80 percent of the Pequonnock River consistently fails water quality tests, landing it a spot on the state’s list of “impaired waters.” Unlike many of the state’s major rivers, however, the environmental quality of the Pequonnock is often overlooked. But town leaders from Monroe, Trumbull and Bridgeport — the three towns through which the river flows — have agreed to participate in a regional effort to get the river removed from the state’s list of “impaired waters.” Vinti Singh of the Connecticut Post reports.

Citizens from Monroe, Trumbull and Bridgeport formed the Pequonnock River Initiative about a year ago to improve the Pequonnock’s water quality and get it off of the list.

“The river doesn’t know any governmental boundaries, so we all have to work together,” said Marven Moss, a member of the Pequonnock River Initiative’s Monroe Steering Committee. Save the Sound is leading the initiative. Other watershed initiatives in the state include the Norwalk River Watershed Initiative, Farmington River Watershed Initiative, and Pomperaug River Watershed Initiative.

McGee School’s seventh grade class recently visited the Salmon River State Park.

This day trip was not only fun for the students but was the culmination of over a month’s preparation.

The Housatonic Valley Association (HVA) is celebrating its 70th anniversary, and what a better way to highlight the years than by canoeing the length of the Housatonic River, the Register Citizen reports. Click on this environmental headline for more about this story.

The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission is seeking volunteers to collect samples of the Connecticut River for water quality testing this summer. Click this environmental headline for more information on how to get involved.

Nonprofits, municipalities and schools in the Connecticut River watershed in Connecicut and Massachusetts are invited to submit applications for grants to fund projects that will result in improved river water quality, ecosystem health, public awareness or recreational access to the river.

“Sound Health 2010″ looks at indicators of the Sound’s health in the areas of water quality, coastal and animal populations, habitats, and land use. See inside for more information and photos from the report. Sound Health 2010, looks back at environmental conditions in the Sound and its watershed over the last two years and compares them to conditions from the last 20 to 30 years.

A conceptual plan presented to Middletown city council members Thursday calls for river bank stabilization, erosion protection and the reparation of wells.

A local conservation group will use nearly $40,000 in federal aid on a mapping program that will identify inadequate stormwater retention devices along the Eightmile River watershed.

The town of Southbury has been awarded $110,631 from the state to stabilize one mile of riverbank at the Audubon Center at Bent of the River off East Flat Hill Road.