Action Items will be evaluated regularly to insure their effectiveness and will be updated when necessary. The evaluation process is repeated and appropriate updates are made whenever new research results become available.

TYPES OF ACTIONS
According to the US EPA Watershed Academy, there are four main types of action that most watershed partnerships consider:

Conducting information/education programs
Few people will make changes without understanding why changes are needed, how to make the changes and how the changes will affect them.

Rendering technical assistance
Many people need more than just information about necessary change. They also require some type of assistance, possibly including one-on-one discussion, demonstrations, drawings and plans, implementation instruction and/or oversight.

Taking regulatory action
Occasionally local ordinances, zoning or other types of regulation are necessary. But partnerships are strongly encouraged to explore other options first. Regulatory action isn't usually a positive step for all stakeholders, and can make consensus very difficult to reach. (The Coalition is non-regulatory; it may, however, engage in the research and drafting of model regulations, ordinances and such.)

Helping obtain funding
In some cases change will cause an economic hardship, which is why many partnerships include cost-sharing and other forms of financial assistance in action plans.

CURRENT ACTION ITEMS

1. Outreach Plan And Outreach Director
2. Land Trust Outreach Initiative
3. Land Use Boards Outreach Initiative
4. Water Utilities Outreach Initiative
5. Coalition Modeling Committee
6. Stream Committee
7. The Coalition's Speakers Bureau
8. The Coalition's Geographic Information System & Resource Library
9. Facilitation Of Ct Dep Stormwater Phase II Management Program
10. River Gauge Funding
11. Aquifer Protection Areas
12. Legislative Support

1. OUTREACH PLAN AND OUTREACH DIRECTOR
Over the past seven years, the Coalition has gathered a significant amount of environmental data. The Coalition and its USGS and UMASS partners are nearing the completion of a three-year computer modeling project and anticipate that the models will be available for use by December 2006. This information can be used to educate local stakeholders and to encourage them to take actions voluntarily to protect and preserve the Pomperaug River, its tributaries, and its aquifer.

Toward that goal, the Coalition proposes to hire a part time Outreach Director. The Outreach Director, in concert with the Executive Director, the Board, our consultants, volunteers and other partners, will review, revise and implement a detailed Outreach Plan to help disseminate the findings of the various hydrologic studies conducted in the watershed. This Plan, expected to be in place by the end of 2006, will include a full year schedule of meetings with all appropriate stakeholder groups including municipal land use boards, land trusts, water companies, local civic and environmental organizations within the watershed.

2. LAND TRUST OUTREACH INITIATIVE
As a first step in the Outreach Program, the Coalition will work closely with two local land trusts to develop new watershed management tools which will assist land trusts in selecting those lands for acquisition and protection which are vital to the protection and preservation of the quality and quantity of water in the watershed.

3. LAND USE BOARDS OUTREACH INITIATIVE
Using the knowledge gained from the watershed tools developed for the land trusts, the Coalition will then expand the outreach to include development of new watershed management tools for all land use boards in the eight watershed towns, customizing the tools for the needs of each different type of land use board. These boards will include conservation commissions, planning and zoning boards, as well as inland wetland and aquifer protection agencies.

4. WATER UTILITIES OUTREACH INITIATIVE
The Coalition will work along with local water companies in the watershed to take the new scientific data available from the USGS and UMass watershed computer models and employ this data to assist the water utilities in making water management decisions that are best practices for protecting the watershed.

5. COALITION MODELING COMMITTEE
The Coalition has formed a new Modeling Committee which as the responsibility of taking the new USGS and UMass watershed computer models and making them understandable and useable as everyday management tools for local organizations involved in decisions which affect the quality and quantity of water in the watershed.

7. THE COALITION'S SPEAKERS BUREAU
In the fall of 2006, the Coalition reactivated its speakers bureau to educate local service clubs and organizations on the work of the Coalition and the need for local residents to become involved with the Coalition to protect the watershed.

8. THE COALITION'S GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM & RESOURCE LIBRARY
The Coalition maintains a Geographic Information System (GIS), a computerized mapping/database that contains geographic and environmental information for the watershed towns. GIS has been used, for example, to prepare maps for the Southbury Land Trust. One of those maps identified a corridor of prime and important agricultural soils coincident with a property of interest that helped the Land Trust describe the importance of the property and successfully acquire grant funds to purchase and protect it. The Coalition also maintains an extensive resource library of regulatory, technical, natural history, cultural, and recreational information and maps.

9. FACILITATION OF CT DEP STORMWATER PHASE II MANAGEMENT PROGRAM - Currently Inactive
Woodbury, Southbury and are required to participate in the CT DEP Stormwater Phase II Management program. Management practices for dealing with nonpoint source pollution are part of the WMP; these practices fulfill part of the management program's requirements. The Coalition is working closely with the staff of the towns to provide coordination and perform various critical tasks associated with the program.

• Prepared and updated the required stormwater management program document with associated narrative using CT DEP forms.
• Researched and prepared the public notice.
Researched and prepared a draft plan that contains outreach options and associated costs.

• Review of zoning, planning and wetlands regulations for stormwater management options. Preparation and presentation of associated reports.
• Collaboration with Audubon Connecticut at the Bent of the River Center to introduce into the Pomperaug High School curriculum watershed information on the crucial issue of nonpoint source pollution and its management.
• Collaboration with the NW Conservation District or another appropriate organization to deliver to the general public a fall 2005 program on stormwater. This is intended to become an annual event.
• Prepare a flyer for all libraries on nonpoint source pollution and its management. Put the flyer information on the Coalition's website.
• Work with the USGS to develop a hydrologic model that can assess potential impacts on the watershed from new development and from surface water and groundwater withdrawal (anticipated completion date winter 2006). The town of Woodbury will work with the Coalition and the USGS to incorporate elements of the model into new development design/ restoration efforts where appropriate. Woodbury will continue to assess and incorporate any feasible model applications through the life of the Coalition/USGS project.
• Provide training for commissions and for design, engineering and construction professionals. Woodbury will begin planning for this training in collaboration with the Coalition in fall 2005, with the first program to be delivered in the fall of 2006 and annually thereafter.

In Southbury, the Coalition is a member of the Town's Stormwater Management Committee, where it continues to fulfill many of its education and outreach responsibilities.

10. RIVER GAUGE FUNDING
Funding of the existing river gauges within the Pomperaug watershed has been assured through the end of 2006. The data obtained from these gauges is vital to the ongoing research conducted by the Coalition, the USGS and other groups. It is crucial to enter into talks with the Connecticut office of the USGS to determine how to ensure the continued operation and funding of these gauges. The Coaliton has been actively engaged with Calpine¹ and the Conneticut Siting Council to ensure continued funding of the gauges.

11. AQUIFER PROTECTION AREAS - ongoing
As part of the Aquifer Protection Area Program, the CT DEP requires water companies to map the critical portions of the aquifers that provide water to the companies' well fields. The companies have completed preliminary, or Level B, mapping for all their well fields, providing a general estimate of the critical supply areas. They will refine this preliminary mapping by using extensive, site-specific data and ground-water modeling to determine the final, Aquifer Protection Area mapping area. The final mapping will define the boundaries for new specific land use regulations. For more information, visit: http://dep.state.ct.us/wtr/aquiferprotection/index.htm.

The Coaliton will actively follow the progress of the Program implementation in the watershed and will offer advice and assistance to local aquifer protection committees.

12. LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT - currently inactive
Ongoing water-discharge information for all diversions over 50,000 gallons per day are necessary for studies in the basin and for the development of water allocation management plans for the basin. The Coalition should work with other river organizations in the state and with the Connecticut Water Planning Council to encourage legislative initiatives requiring the ongoing reporting of such water diversions.

1. Calpine, an independent power producer, is interested in developing a combined cycle power plant in Oxford, CT that would use water from the Pomperaug River. As a condition for siting approval of Calpine's power project by the Connecticut Siting Council, Calpine has been required to fund gauges in the watershed.