The Connecticut College Sediment Elevation (SET’s) database, which are used to track marsh elevation response to sea level rise, is being transferred to LISICOS and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) had developed a draft website for a statewide network of SET’s. There are plans to install approximately 60 new benchmarks to support SET measurements. Visit the USGS website to learn more about SET’s.
The lower Connecticut River in Connecticut was designated as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention in 1994. The River contains the best examples of brackish and fresh tidal marshes in New England. It is likely the reduced snowpack to the north will reduce the volume of the spring freshet and cause the freshet to arrive earlier in the year. This together will sea level rise is expected to cause the salt wedge to move upstream potentially changing the distribution and abundance of these wetland types. LISICOS partnered with USGS to install two recording salinity gages, the Old Lyme gage is operational. The purpose of this gage to document current salinity conditions so that future impacts from climate change can be documented and perhaps support wetland adaptation strategies. The gages are already revealing previously unknown patterns of salinity fluctuations during summer neap-spring tidal cycles.
