Are you a data collector in the LIS watershed looking for a home for your data? Let us know: support@QuickDrops.org. 2/2

Happy Birthday, QuickDrops.org! Look how you've grown!

One year after its launch, more than 100,000 data points from 700 locations around Long Island Sound have been uploaded to QuickDrops--a water quality data platform and visualization tool free to use for the full community of stakeholders. 1/2

Julianna and Alex braved the snow yesterday to attend the 2026 Yale Forum on Climate Change and Health at Yale School of Public Health

Join us for a webinar Thursday, Feb. 26 at 12:00 p.m. to learn how science and a behavior-change campaign helped improve water quality at one CT beach, and hear how eDNA testing could benefit beaches around the Sound.

Register: www.savethesound.org/dna-webinar

TONIGHT: Manhasset Bay Protection Committee invites community members to attend a virtual meeting to discuss the Manhasset Bay Water Quality Improvement Plan. A list of water quality-related recommendations will be presented for public review and comment.
us06web.zoom.us/j/7554073451...

As snow melts across Connecticut, road salt and pollutants head into streams and Long Island Sound "It’s important to remember that excess salt does have adverse impacts to the ecology of our waterways," a water quality expert said.

Most of us around the Sound woke up Monday to a foot or more of fresh snow.

Shoveling may have been the near-term concern. But the eventual melt from big snowstorms can also pose the same threat to water quality as stormwater runoff from rain events.

www.stamfordadvocate.com/connecticut/...

Whether it’s our Soundkeeper team getting out on Long Island Sound for multiple lobster trap retrieval trips or hardy members of our water quality team having to break through ice to access water for sampling on the Bronx River, it’s sure been a cold few weeks out there for field work!

WATER QUALITY EVENT REMINDER

Join Save the Sound, other community members interested in improving water quality in Alley Creek & Little Neck Bay to hear NYC DEP discuss potential revisions to the waterbodies' CSO Long-Term Control Plan: THU, FEB. 5, 6:00-7:00 p.m., Alley Pond Environmental Center

Suffolk County executive Romaine, legislator Englebright, and Assemblymembers Schiavoni and Giglio led conversations that included NYS investment in clean water infrastructure, concerns over proposed changes to environmental regulations, and other pressing issues.
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David Ansel, Vice President of our Center for Water Protection, attended the annual Environmental Roundtable in Riverhead hosted by NYS Sen. Palumbo.
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Happy Groundhog Day! 🐾 Today your gift goes twice as far thanks to our Groundhog Day Membership Match. That means your $25 donation becomes $50 to protect the land our furry friends call home.

Help us reach 25 new members today! DOUBLE your impact: savethesound.org/match

Later tonight, you can watch David Ansel, VP of our Center for Water Protection, deliver testimony to a Joint Budget Hearing of the Environmental Conservation committees of the NYS Senate and Assembly: tinyurl.com/2wsav575
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Save the Sound in Albany: Our 2026 Legislative Priorities | Feb. 12 Webinar Learn how environmental policy moves forward in Albany and how advocates can make an impact. Save the Sound webinar, February 12, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. on Zoom.

2026 NYS LEGISLATIVE WEBINAR RESCHEDULED!

Please note that the webinar hosted by Save the Sound's NY Policy team originally scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 29 will now be held Thursday, Feb. 12 at 12:00 p.m.
Register here: www.savethesound.org/nys-leg-webi...
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Join David Ansel, VP of our Center for Water Protection, and Ella McGrail, our NY policy coordinator, for a webinar discussion of our 2026 legislative priorities and how you can help strengthen environmental policy and investment in New York State.

Register: www.savethesound.org/nys-leg-webi...

Yesterday members of our Connecticut Legislative Team attended the @ctlcv.bsky.social Environment Summit to connect with fellow advocates and prepare for the Connecticut Legislative Session, which starts on February 4!

Our Soundkeeper team wasted none of the new calendar, starting up their lobster trap retrieval trips the first week of January.

They recovered 23 traps on their first outing of 2026--a beautiful, low wind day to be on the water. And they encountered this peppermint shrimp and purple urchin.

New Haven Residents: Share your environmental health story

Save the Sound wants to understand the environmental health stressors people experience in New Haven. Your responses will help inform ongoing research and community efforts to address local environmental health concerns. Fill out the survey today! docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLS...

Summer doesn’t save itself.

Protecting clean water, healthy fish, and swimmable beaches in Long Island Sound takes action right now. Give today: savethesound.org/savethesummer

Donate by December 31 and watch your $25 membership become $50 for the Sound.

Climate change is already affecting Long Island Sound and our communities. Keep your support of Save the Sound as we lead bold climate action in 2026, cutting emissions and helping ecosystems adapt. Give now at the link in bio or savethesound.org/care.

Peter Linderoth Save the Sound Bacteria monitoring report & Tom Anderson of the CT. Audubon Society Podcast Episode · Digging In The Dirt with Kevin Gallagher · 12/15/2025 · 56m

Peter Linderoth, our director of healthy waters and lands, joined Kevin Gallagher on "Digging in the Dirt" to discuss the results of our 2025 pathogen indicator bacteria monitoring season in the western Sound.

Listen: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...

Results: www.savethesound.org/what-we-do/h...

Bill Lucey joined Melissa in the Morning last week to talk about the Soundkeeper team's campaign to recover lost and abandoned lobster traps from the Connecticut side of Long Island Sound. They also discussed the latest efforts to protect river herring in our region.

audioboom.com/posts/881823...

Saving your summer starts now. If you want clean beaches, clear air, pristine waters, and healthy fish, donate now: www.savethesound.org/savethesummer

Give before 12/31 to boost your impact. A generous supporter is matching 500 new memberships, so any first-time gift of $25 unlocks an extra $25.

As federal leaders roll back green energy policies and long-standing environmental protections, Save the Sound is fighting back. Your year-end gift keeps local progress moving. Please make your gift today at savethesound.org/care.

Twenty-five native plants were used to fill the demonstrative rain garden, designed to showcase what a rain garden looks like, introduce the community to the beneficial impacts they have on water quality, and inspire other green infrastructure projects in the village of Port Chester. 2/2

Eight students from the Port Chester Youth Bureau joined David Abreu, our clean water advocacy specialist, last weekend to install an 80 sf rain garden at William James Memorial Gateway Park along the Byram River in Port Chester. 1/2

Three bills that we worked to pass during the 2025 legislative session in NY have been delivered this week to Gov. Hochul for her signature.

Take a minute to encourage the Governor to sign all three bills, which provide a range of environmental protections:

savethesound.quorum.us/campaign/150...

Saving your summer starts now. We protect and restore the water, air, and land of the Long Island Sound region. Want clean beaches and healthy waters? Become a member today: savethesound.org/savethesummer. Any $25 gift before Dec 31 will be matched dollar for dollar thanks to a generous supporter!

"We need to inform the public at all times when it is unsafe to interact with the water. We need a system that integrates with MA and NY as everything flows into the Sound. People want to paddle, swim, sail and fish without coming into contact with fecal pathogens." -Bill Lucey, Soundkeeper

3/3: Learn more about Connecticut's sewer overflows in this article: ctmirror.org/2025/10/06/c...

Sewer/storm water overflow: CT's combined sewer/stormwater systems discharged over 1.2 billion gallons of sewage contaminated stormwater in 2024.

Most discharge in overflows is rainwater, but the presence of untreated sewage is a health concern. Contaminated water is unsafe for swimming, and can cause harmful algal blooms.

Separate sanitary sewer systems can also overflow when they clog or break, releasing raw sewage into waterways and buildings. In 2024, over 800 million gallons of untreated sewage were released from sanitary sewage overflows. Source: 2025 draft Sewage Right to Know report from CT DEEP

Alerting the Public: For years, Save the Sound has been pushing for an alert system to notify swimmers, boaters, and fishers when overflows happen. You have a right to know when the water is unsafe.

2/3 We're advocating for a system to ensure that the public is informed at all times when it is unsafe to interact with the water.