Dave Grazynski stopped by a fishing spot in Fairfield near the Merritt Parkway in late July. Grazynski likes to go fly fishing, a technique using an artificial fly attached to a lightweight line. He says he always practices catch and release and uses the time to clear his mind.
“If anything's going through my mind, then my line is going to get caught in a tree," Grazynski said.
Grazynski is a member of a Connecticut chapter of Trout Unlimited, a conservation group, known as the Nutmeg Chapter. They say a portion of the Mill River in Fairfield near the Merritt Parkway is in need of restoration.
They say run-off from the roadway can harm aquatic wildlife, like trout, and the river has straightened in particular sections making it likely for river erosion to occur.
They are working on a plan for a restoration project that would make some sections of the river more curvy. The plan also calls for deepening the river bed to improve the habitat for trout and other wildlife.
The Mill River in Fairfield is more than 16 miles long. According to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) the river is an overall hospitable place for wild trout.
Joe Cassone, a fish biologist for DEEP’s Habitat Conservation and Enhancement Program, says the river stands out from others.
“This river is unique in that it originates in this part of the watershed, below Easton Reservoir. So, we're getting good, cold, deep release water that makes this river cooler than it otherwise would be,” Cassone said.
Trout need cold water to survive, according to DEEP. While the river does support a wild trout population, some parts of the river do get shipments of captured trout by the state. The specific location where Grazynski fished, doesn’t. But it also doesn’t have much of a population, according to the Nutmeg Chapter.
Rich Rosen, the secretary and president of the Nutmeg Chapter, said the state doesn’t stock this section of the river over concerns it would impact the native population. But the Merritt Parkway doesn't help the situation.
“The runoff goes right into the river, which is a problem, especially in the summer. You get heated water; trout will die at 70 degrees Fahrenheit,” Rosen said.
Rosen said the Merritt has also impacted the river in other ways. A section of the river, he said, is straighter than natural.
Cassone said the Merritt, like any other roadway, can impact the course of a waterway.
“There's nothing uniquely impactful about the Merritt Parkway,” Cassone said. “When you put infrastructure, like a road in place, it becomes a fixed point. And rivers, over time, want to move and meander.”
Brian Eltz, a cold water fish biologist for DEEP, thinks the construction of the Merritt ended up inadvertently straightening a section of the river.
“We look at the stream, we don't have any maps that show that there was definitely a rerouting of the river, but it definitely looks like it to our perspective, how it's straight and it's not sinuous, so it's not curvy through there,” Eltz said.
Trout Unlimited’s Nutmeg Chapter plans to restore several sections of the Mill River, from Stratfield Road to Congress Street. Rosen said they will add rocks, riffles, strengthen the banks and deepen holes.
The holes are favored by trout where they can rest, and the group will also add boulders.
“They want to hunt for food, and they want to do it with the least amount of energy,” Rosen said. “So they'll hide behind a rock where the current is slower, or in front of the rock, and they'll wait for food to come down the river.”
Rosen estimates the total restoration project will cost anywhere from $50,000 to $55,000. The group has already raised $31,000. It hopes to start work on the project before next summer.
DEEP said the Nutmeg Chapter of Trout Unlimited has taken the lead on this, and DEEP is acting in a regulatory role.
Grazynski said the restoration of this section of the river would have positive impacts on the community as a whole. He said he became a fan of fly fishing during the pandemic after finding a discarded fishing rod in a parking lot.
He said working on this restoration project will allow him to have a say in the future of the river so his children can enjoy it too.
“I have two kids and I want them to have this resource both to have as a place to fish, but also, who wants to look at a spillway? Let's make it look like the natural world,” Grazynski said.
