Housatonic Mainstem Lakes

One of the northernmost streams that feed into the Housatonic mainstem is Great Brook. This four-mile stream starts out healthy, clean and shaded by forest. As it flows closer to downtown New Milford it gets steadily more polluted and laden with trash due to stormwater runoff. HVA has partnered with New Milford residents and the Town of New Milford in a Sustainable CT effort to clean up Great Brook and create a restoration watershed plan. This plan will identify areas and projects for restoration that will control stormwater pollution, clean up trash, and restore a healthy habitat along the stream corridor. The first project to come out of this will be restoring the stream reach that runs through Hulton Meadow Park and Center Cememtery in New Milford. Town residents and HVA volunteers will clean up trash, stabilize failing banks, and establish a vegetative buffer that will not only provide habitat for native biodiversity but also slow stormwater flow and filter pollutants coming from the park and nearby areas.