April 2008.  Vegetated streamside buffers provide shade, stabilize stream banks, slow runoff, help to avoid flooding, filter pollutants, and provide food and shelter to wildlife. Buffers can also be inviting places to stroll while enjoying views of the stream they protect. Learn from this practical guide how to size, design, and plant your own streamside buffer garden. Hardcopies are available. Download the PDF (2.2 MB)

July 2005.  Everyday actions around the home can affect the health and quality of backyard streams, ponds, lakes and wetlands.  This guide offers a variety of simple, safe and environmentally sound practices for lawn and landscape care, septic system maintenance, hazardous household product use, erosion prevention and stormwater runoff control. The intent of this educational tool is to build community awareness and appreciation for protecting local and regional water resources. Hardcopies are available. Download the PDF (640 KB)

March 2000. This report documents the health of the Mattabesset River and tributary streams (including the Coginchaug River). It is based on the results of an intensive seven-year water quality survey undertaken by the Connecticut River Watch Program with the help of over 200 community volunteers and environmental professionals. Designed to be easily understood by non-scientists, the report contains background information and provides historical and present-day context for the Mattabesset River and its watershed. Download the PDF (1.7 MB)

September 2000. This comprehensive management plan provides information on the State of the Watershed, and details goals, objectives and action items aimed at protecting the River from further degradation and restoring it to fishable and swimmable conditions. The plan was developed with input from a diverse group of stakeholders, including watershed municipalities, businesses, environmental organizations, state and federal natural resource agencies, and concerned citizens. Bound copies are available. Download the PDF (2 MB)

June 2007 (second edition). This on-river trail guide takes you on a two-hour tour of the lower Mattabesset River. The trail begins behind the site of the former Sawmill Pub in Cromwell, winds its way through Cromwell Meadows, a large freshwater tidal wetland located at the confluence of the Coginchaug and Mattabesset Rivers, and ends on the Connecticut River at Harbor Park in Middletown. Laminated copies are available. Download the PDF (376 KB)

June 2002. This guide promotes practices to protect local streams. It includes background information on the Mattabesset River watershed, and covers topics such as lawn management and landscaping, septic system maintenance, erosion and drainage, and household hazardous waste, and provides contacts and resource information. Hardcopies are available. Download the PDF (317 KB)