Resilience Steps

The Long Island Watershed Action Agenda is a clear-cut blueprint for water quality improvements, aquatic habitat conservation, groundwater protection, and the public engagement necessary to ensure success for the surface, coastal, and ground waters of Nassau and Suffolk counties. The Long Island Watershed Action Agenda is an evolution of the success of the Long Island Nitrogen Action Plan (LINAP) and will expand the scope of its work beyond nitrogen reduction.

This factsheet summarizes the findings of a 2022 informal needs assessment of coastal Long Island Sound communities conducted by the Long Island Sound Study’s Sustainable & Resilient Communities (SRC) Working Group Extension Professionals Team. The goal of the needs assessment was to guide future SRC work and to understand: 1) which environmental threats communities are most concerned about, 2) what communities are already doing to address these threats (including their goals and priority projects), 3) what barriers are preventing actions, and 4) what support is needed to overcome those barriers. 

Resources and information on Suffolk County’s Reclaim Our Water Initiatives and Septic Improvement Program. Through the Septic Improvement Program homeowners can access grants from New York State and Suffolk County to replace their cesspool or septic system with a nitrogen removal septic system and leaching structure.

The Suffolk County Subwatersheds Wastewater Plan serves as a county-wide roadmap for how to address nitrogen pollution through wastewater upgrades and other nitrogen pollution mitigation strategies. It was developed in collaboration with numerous project partners, stakeholders, and technical experts, and is the product of rigorous, science-based evaluations.

The Long Island Garden Rewards Program offers reimbursement of up to $500 total for making your yard more water friendly. Homeowners can be reimbursed for installing rain barrels, rain gardens, or native plantings on their properties. These actions reduce the amount of nitrogen pollution entering local waterways and helps conserve water. Funds are limited and available on a first come, first serve basis.

Due to the high participation in the program, as of May 20, 2025 the Long Island Garden Rewards Program is closed. Thank you to all who participated. Check back for when applications open again!

Nitrogen Smart Communities (NSC) is a Long Island Nitrogen Action Plan (LINAP) program that encourages municipalities in Nassau and Suffolk counties to take meaningful and effective actions to reduce, prevent or eliminate nitrogen pollution in Long Island’s waters through community-specific plans of action.

The 2025 expansion of the Climate Action Tool (CAT) allows you to:
1) Access information on climate impacts and vulnerability of species and habitats; and

2) Explore adaptation strategies and actions, related to connectivity, conservation planning, and forestry, among other relevant areas. 

This tool was developed by the Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment.

The GSI Impact Hub is an interactive platform that provides tools, research, and data to help communities plan and evaluate green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) projects. GSI uses natural systems like plants, soil, and stone to manage stormwater on-site reducing flooding, improving water quality, and creating healthier, more resilient neighborhoods. The Hub includes a benefits calculator, educational resources, and guidance to support city planners, advocates, and policymakers in designing projects that maximize environmental, social, and economic benefits.

Explore the GSI Impact Calculator, Detailed Resource Library, and Project Background to better understand how GSI can reduce flooding, improve water quality, and build climate-resilient neighborhoods.

This StoryMap describes how the Long Island Sound (LIS) Partnership has reduced hypoxia and improved nutrient management efforts in Long Island Sound and its watershed.

It includes an explanation of hypoxia, impacts from the region’s history, how LIS Partnership is addressing hypoxia, plans for the future, and how to use this information to inform meaningful action.

Use this fact sheet to learn about riparian buffers and how they can be a tool for filtering excess nutrients and sediment from runoff, reducing flood impacts, and providing habitat. Learn more about buffers using this fact sheet. Details include what buffers are, why they are important, best practice recommendations, and design considerations.

Municipalities are encouraged to use the Sound Ideas for Clean Water brochure in their outreach efforts. The website and brochure outline steps that residents can take to reduce stormwater runoff that can cause pollution and flooding. For more information about this campaign, contact the outreach coordinator for your area (listed here). 

This workbook made by Groundwork Bridgeport provides a thorough but accessible introduction to green stormwater infrastructure. The workbook explains the issues that green infrastructure can help solve, introduces several green infrastructure methods, and then provides definitions, explains why each is uses, and details how to build them.

This fact sheet for Conservation Commissions in Connecticut reviews the role of these commissions for enhancing the climate resilience of their communities. The resource was developed by CIRCA and covers the authority and duties of conservation commissions as well as detailing specific strategies and approaches.

This NYSDEC tool provides information on shellfish closures in NY’s marine waters and can be used to help resource users understand where it is safe to harvest to shellfish.

Save the Sound’s Sound Health Explorer displays information on water quality for Long Island Sound beaches, embayments, and open waters.

Suffolk County and the local governments within Suffolk County developed a FEMA approved Hazard Mitigation Plan, which documents risks from natural hazards and strategies to mitigate hazards.

This Story Map was developed to provide an overview of the Westchester County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) to facilitate county-wide access to the plan. The Westchester County HMP was developed to provide a roadmap to resilience by identifying hazards affecting the county and its communities.

10 Things You Can Do to Reduce Personal Nitrogen Pollution

A website and a downloadable app for your mobile device. The resource has information about rain gardens, designing, selecting plants, and installing a garden on your property.

The Long Island Nitrogen Action Plan (LINAP) is a multiyear initiative to reduce the amount of nitrogen entering Long Island’s groundwater and surface water from wastewater (sewer and septic systems), stormwater runoff and fertilizers. LINAP is led by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Long Island Regional Planning Council (LIRPC) along with Suffolk and Nassau counties, with input from multiple partners and stakeholders. Learn more about LINAP and actions you can take to reduce nitrogen to Long Island’s waterways.

Nitrogen (N) from residential lawn fertilizer is one of the most challenging and persistent problems impacting the health of Long Island Sound (LIS). An interdisciplinary team of researchers from Clark University, the University of Connecticut, the University of Maryland, and the University of Miami collaborated on an effort to better target education and outreach campaigns to reduce the use of lawn fertilizer in areas of greatest impact. 

This Story Map and the associated Lawn Fertilizer Outreach Targeting Tool can help identify areas of the watershed for which interventions to reduce lawn fertilizer may have greater impacts.

CT DEEP recently released a new tool allowing users to search for DEEP financial assistance programs based on a variety of parameters such as eligibility requirements, grant cycle status, project types, and more. This resource and offers “one-stop shopping” for many DEEP funding opportunities.

This portal contains the comprehensive dataset of awarded projects for the Water Quality Improvement Project Program (WQIP) and the Non-Agricultural Nonpoint Source Planning and MS4 Mapping Grant (NPG). Data is displayed simultaneously on a map and data table and can be filtered by Grant Program, Applicant, County, Project Type, and Funding Source.

The Long Island Sound Watershed Land Cover Viewer contains all dates of land cover as well as Change To, Change From, Riparian Area Land Cover, and Impervious Surface Estimate layers. It also has many layers where HUC 12 watersheds are colored based on a single land cover. 

Connecticut Environmental Conditions Online (CT ECO) is the collaborative work of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP)  and the University of Connecticut Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) to share environmental and natural resource information with the general public. CT ECO’s mission is to encourage, support, and promote informed land use and development decisions in Connecticut by providing local, state and federal agencies, and the general public with convenient access to the most up-to-date and complete natural resource information available statewide.

CT ECO includes a variety of online maps and tools for viewing Connecticut’s environmental and natural resources as well as high resolution aerial imagery, elevation data, and land cover. The Advanced Map Viewer provides flexibility to turn on and off layers of the map.

The LINAP Embayment Water Exchange Study looked at how water exchange practices could affect the nitrogen impairments in embayments. A water exchange practice changes the amount, speed, or direction of water moving through an area. The results of the study show that water exchange techniques are not effective in large waterbodies like most of Long Island’s embayments. Often, the physical size of the water exchange practice is small compared to the large waterbodies to which they are applied, which means their impact is limited. Water exchange projects may be useful, however, for smaller Long Island waterbodies, where the volume of increased water exchange approaches the volume of the overall waterbody. The goal of the study was to provide communities with basic information on water exchange practices suitable for Long Island.

Seatuck and the Greentree Foundation, in association with Cameron Engineering, initiated the Long Island Water Reuse Roadmap and Action Plan to catalyze the implementation of water reuse on Long Island and ensure that the strategy plays a larger and more meaningful role in safeguarding the region’s drinking water and surface water resources.

WaterTraq program is the first of its kind in New York State that allows for research of groundwater contamination by location, compound, depth of wells, and other criteria.

Connecticut-specific site with maps, data, and visualization tools. Contains: Blue Plan, MS4 Viewer, CT Parcel Viewer, Sea Level Rise Effects on Roads & Marshes, CT DEEP Fish Community Data – Inland Waters, CT Aquaculture Mapping Atlas, CT Coastal Hazards Viewer, Carbon Stock & Land Cover Viewer

This web mapping application displays Water Quality Plans (TMDLs) developed by the 303 (d) program in conjunction with Water Quality Assessments conducted by the 305 (b) program.

This mapper provides a view of estuary data and the option to retrieve and save information about water quality, nutrients, land use, etc. There are also instructions provided to assist with usage.

Includes information about preparing for, and implementing green infrastructure with helpful links to other fact sheets and resources.

User-friendly access to expert-reviewed interactive maps on key topics such as marine life and habitat, marine-based industry, use and resources in the northeastern United States. The Data Explorer allows the user to define and view any combination of data hosted on the Portal on one map.

CLEAR, a program of UConn’s College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources, provides information, education, and assistance to land use decision makers, in support of balancing growth and natural resource protection.

The Long Island Sound watershed is home to nearly 9 million people in parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Canada. Government agencies, nonprofits, and Tribal Nations have overseen numerous projects to monitor and protect the water resources of this watershed and the sound. Although there is an abundance of data, there is no easy way to search them or a central place to manage this information. To help, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Long Island Sound Study have created an interactive map to help users find and understand data about the water resources of the Long Island Sound and its watershed.

This mapping tool does not host data or maintain data repositories. Instead, it compiles and presents metadata from publicly accessible databases managed by State and other organizations.

Refer to this fact sheet for details about the application and its data sources: The Long Island Sound and Watershed Metadata map application

WEST COG developed this riparian zoning publication that is primarily focused on water quality, but also is highly relevant to climate mitigation.

Healthy ecosystems provide a wide range of benefits, from recreational opportunities to storm surge protection. These benefits are often referred to as ecosystem services. Understanding how changes to the ecosystem may affect these benefits should play a role in the community’s decision making process. This page provides a guide to learning more and key NOAA Digital Coast resources useful for this task.

Developed by the NEMO program at the UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research, this website provides guidance and tools to help Connecticut municipalities and institutions comply with the MS4 general permit.

Water quality is strongly related to land use. New high-resolution land cover data for Connecticut has made it possible to look at the land/water connection at a finer scale than ever before. Using the three sections of this website below, you can learn about our study, explore the landscape surrounding the over 4,300 local waterways in our state and the implications for the health of these waterways, and test out landscape change scenarios to see what effects they might have.

The Long Island Sound Sustainable and Resilient Communities (SRC) Team held our 2025 Annual Workshop virtually as three sessions over two days. Session topics focused on resources and tools available to help take advantage of state resilience funds, a panel discussion on why and how to incorporate nature-based solutions into resilience planning, and an overview of our available assistance programs.

Session 3 – LIS Resilience Planning Support Program: New Round Available & Showcase of Completed Projects was held on Friday, December 5, 2025. Participants learned about the newly available 3rd round of the LIS Resilience Planning Support Program and heard from three communities who received awards through the first round of the Program. Video of the session along with supporting materials is available below.

The Long Island Sound Sustainable and Resilient Communities (SRC) Team held our 2025 Annual Workshop virtually as three sessions over two days. Session topics focused on resources and tools available to help take advantage of state resilience funds, a panel discussion on why and how to incorporate nature-based solutions into resilience planning, and an overview of our available assistance programs.

Session 2 – Using Nature-Based Solutions for Resilience: A Panel Discussion on Common Challenges & Strategies for Success was held on Thursday, December 4, 2025. In this interactive session, practitioners and experts discussed techniques for integrating nature-based solutions into resilience initiatives. The panel highlighted common challenges and shared successful strategies from projects in the Long Island Sound region. Video of the session along with supporting materials is available below.

The Long Island Sound Sustainable and Resilient Communities (SRC) Team held our 2025 Annual Workshop virtually as three sessions over two days. Session topics focused on resources and tools available to help take advantage of state resilience funds, a panel discussion on why and how to incorporate nature-based solutions into resilience planning, and an overview of our available assistance programs.

Session 1 – Resilience 101: Helpful Tools and Strategies for Building Community Resilience was held on Thursday, December 4, 2025. Participants learned about available resilience resources and tools and then moved into breakout rooms to hear about state climate certification programs and resilience funds in both NY and CT. Videos of the main session and both breakout rooms are available below, along with supporting materials.

On December 5, 2024, the Sustainable and Resilient Communities (SRC) team of the Long Island Sound Study hosted a field trip featuring the Town of Hamden’s Bioretention Project – the largest municipally owned rain garden in the state! Participants began with a guided tour of the rain garden and bioretention areas at Town Center Park, where they heard from project planners and managers about its history, partnerships, challenges, and maintenance. Following this, participants gathered at the Hamden Government Center for a working lunch and presentations on topics including UConn’s Stormwater Corps, native plants, project engineering, and using nature-based solutions to advance climate resilience goals. The day concluded with a lively group discussion. Special thanks to our partners with the Town of Hamden, Save the Sound, the Hamden Land Trust, and UConn Extension.

Photo credit: Judy Benson

The Long Island Sound Sustainable and Resilient Communities (SRC) Team held our 2024 Annual Workshop virtually as three sessions over two days. Session topics focused on our assistance programs, new regional resilience resources and tools, and a discussion on planning for inundation and different considerations communities may face.

Session 2 – Resilience Tools was held on Tuesday, December 10th from 1:30-3:30 PM. Participants learned about new Resilience Tools being developed and used throughout coastal Long Island Sound.

The Long Island Sound Sustainable and Resilient Communities (SRC) Team held our 2024 Annual Workshop virtually as three sessions over two days. Session topics focused on our assistance programs, new regional resilience resources and tools, and a discussion on planning for inundation and different considerations communities may face.

Session 1 – SRC Resilience Assistance Programs was held on Tuesday, December 10th from 10-11:30 AM. Participants learned about our Sustainable and Resilient Communities resilience assistance programs and heard from communities who have successfully utilized them to advance resilience project plans, build capacity, and secure competitive grant funding!

The second annual Long Island Sound Bi-State Sustainable and Resilient Communities Workshop brought together nearly 200 people virtually on Dec. 7, 2023 to learn about a new Long Island Sound Resilience Resource Hub (launching in early 2024), hear from communities and groups around the Sound working on resilience planning, and consider pathways for updating codes and ordinances. Videos of the workshop’s six sessions are available on YouTube. They can be accessed below along with supporting documents.

On July 18th, 2023 NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and NY Sea Grant hosted a free public webinar to share more about what steps homeowners can take in their own yards to protect and improve Long Island waters! Featured experts from New York Sea Grant, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Long Island Commission for Aquifer Protection, Cornell Cooperative Extension Suffolk County, and Rewild Long Island discussed smart fertilizer practices, water conservation, and native plantings.

The first annual Long Island Sound Bi-State Sustainable and Resilient Communities Workshop brought together more than 260 people virtually on Dec. 1, 2022 to learn about opportunities to increase the resilience of the Sound’s communities to climate change and other environmental threats. Interactive sessions included opportunities to learn more about the SRC Extension Professionals’ needs assessment findings and recommendations, the newly released Long Island Sound Resilience Grant Writing Assistance Program, and tips for success with Long Island Sound funding opportunities. Concurrent breakout sessions highlighted the work of partners related to shoreline planning and implementation, using green infrastructure for stormwater management, sustainable climate planning for relocation, and new sustainability/resilience tools available in both New York and Connecticut. Videos of the workshop’s six sessions are available on YouTube. They can be accessed below along with supporting documents.

The Town of Hamden’s Bioretention Project is the largest municipally owned rain garden in the state! Save the Sound, in partnership with the Town of Hamden, completed this large-scale rain garden project at Hamden Town Center Park to improve local water quality, restore habitat, and enhance community resilience. The project transformed approximately 2.5 acres of lawn into a functioning green infrastructure system that now manages runoff from an 88-acre urban watershed draining Dixwell Avenue and surrounding neighborhoods. Prior to the project, stormwater often overflowed directly into Pardee Brook and the Mill River, carrying pollutants and inundating the park.

The newly constructed rain garden was engineered with layers of soil, sand, and rock, and planted with more than 7,000 native grasses, flowers, and shrubs thanks to additional support from the Land Trust of Hamden. These plantings naturally filter pollutants such as fertilizers, road salt, and chemicals. Community volunteers helped complete the planting, strengthening local stewardship in the Town of Hamden.

With support from the Long Island Sound Resilience Grant Writing Assistance Program, in December 2024 1653 Foundation was awarded $549,955 from the NYSDEC Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) Program to fund the Final design and implementation of habitat improvements and green infrastructure at Halesite Park, NY.

1653 Foundation Inc. will restore degrading shoreline at Halesite Park on the eastern shore of Huntington Harbor. The project will remove a failing seawall to expand shallow water habitat, install an offshore rock sill and oyster reef, and expand salt marsh vegetation, and upland plantings.

LIS Resilience Grant Writing Assistance Program Details:

Grant Writing Consultant: DLB Planning, LLC.
Grant Writing Assistance Award: $9,900

With support from the Long Island Sound Resilience Grant Writing Assistance (GWA) Program, in December 2024 the Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed was awarded $419,900 from the Long Island Sound Futures Fund to support the project: Developing a Mystic River Watershed Resilience Action Plan Using Equitable Community Engagement, CT.

The project will launch a robust engagement effort and planning process throughout four municipalities and two Tribal Nations within Mystic, Connecticut, in order to initiate efforts to improve the watershed health along the 30.6-square-mile Mystic River Watershed. The project will develop a community- and stakeholder-supported EPA Nine Element watershed-based plan, which will strive to address water quality impairments, community inequities and resilience challenges in the watershed.

LIS Resilience Grant Writing Assistance Program Details:

Grant Writing Consultant: Resilient Land and Water, LLC.
Grant Writing Assistance Award: $9,950

With support from the Long Island Sound Resilience Grant Writing Assistance (GWA) Program, in 2024 the Mill River Wetland Committee (MRWC) was awarded $26,987 from the Long Island Sound Community Impact Fund to support MRWC to lead the 5th Grade classes (2) at Barnum School in Bridgeport, CT through the Groundwater Study Trip in the fall of 2024 and Water Monitoring training in the spring of 2025.

LIS Resilience Grant Writing Assistance Program Details:

Grant Writing Consultant: CT Grant Writers
Grant Writing Assistance Award: $1,912.50

With support from the Long Island Sound Resilience Grant Writing Assistance (GWA) Program, in December 2023 ReWild Long Island was awarded $230,300 from the Long Island Sound Futures Fund to fund the project – ReWild Gardens for Long Island Sound: Implementation of an expanded community garden program Long Island within the LISS watershed.

The Community Gardens Program installs native plant gardens with community partners who plant & maintain them. The Summer Program to Fight Hunger and Climate Change supports high school students to plant & tend gardens with local nonprofit partners.

LIS Resilience Grant Writing Assistance Program Details:

Grant Writing Consultant: Elizabeth Skolnick
Grant Writing Assistance Award: $7,500

With support from the Long Island Sound Resilience Grant Writing Assistance (GWA) Program, in December 2023, North Shore Land Alliance was awarded $192,969 from the NYSDEC Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) Program to fund the implementation of green infrastructure at the North Shore Land Alliance Shore Road Sanctuary in Cold Spring Harbor, NY. The North Shore Land Alliance will install an upland infiltration system to reduce the volume and velocity of stormwater on a 40-acre parcel and replace invasive plants along the shoreline with a native plant community. The project will restore habitat and reduce the amount stormwater and pollutants entering Cold Spring Harbor and Long Island Sound.

LIS Resilience Grant Writing Assistance Program Details:

Grant Writing Consultant: Nelson Pope & Voorhis
Grant Writing Assistance Award: $9,900

With support from the Long Island Sound Resilience Grant Writing Assistance (GWA) Program, in December 2023 Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County was awarded $250,000 from the Long Island Sound Futures Fund to fund the project – Building Volunteer-Driven Oyster Restoration on Long Island Sound: Implementation and development of a framework for a community Oyster Gardening Program.

The program aims to develop a volunteer training program to engage people to cultivate oyster gardens for reef restoration; source and procure spat-on-shell oysters for gardening; conduct a pilot project in Manhasset Bay; and deliver an education campaign to teach 500 residents at 15 events about shellfish restoration in Manhasset Bay, Town of North Hempstead, New York. Project will provide a framework to contribute to restoration of oyster reefs an Important Coastal Habitat of Long Island Sound.

LIS Resilience Grant Writing Assistance Program Details:

Grant Writing Consultant: Ken Schlather Consulting; Grant Writing Assistance Award: $3,000

Grant Writing Consultant: Richard Eisendorf; Grant Writing Assistance Award: $6,800

With support from the Nature Conservancy and Sustainable CT, East Haddam organized a Community Resilience Building process and workshop, the results of which were compiled into this summary. The team engaged with community members to determine the present hazards and vulnerabilities and identify resilient solutions.

The City of New Haven has installed 286 right-of-way bioswales throughout the city as part of a multifaceted approach to reducing flooding in the downtown area. Right-of-way bioswales are engineered planted areas that are located on sidewalks. They are designed to capture and infiltrate stormwater into the ground that would otherwise directly enter a storm drain. These bioswales were installed as the result of various partnerships and funding opportunities related to flood prevention, localized drainage solutions, combined sewer overflow mitigation, research, and traffic calming projects.

Project Lead

City of New Haven, Dept of Engineering

Project Partners

Urban Resources Initiative, EMERGE Inc., Save the Sound, Yale School of the Environment, and Quinnipiac University, among others.

Friends of the Bay installed two raingardens at the Western Waterfront, which was done in October 2021 with the help of volunteers.

The Hempstead Harbor Protection Committee and Village of Sea Cliff completed subwatershed improvements at Scudders Pond to address stormwater drainage problems impacting the water quality of the pond and Hempstead Harbor, highlighted as a priority in the 1998 Hempstead Harbor Water Quality Improvement Plan. The improvements included dredging the pond, installing a hydrodynamic separator to intercept sediment, removing invasive Phragmites australis and replacing with native plants, realigning the stream to reduce erosion, redirecting the stormwater from residences to the bioswale, creation of a biofilter wetland area, replacement of the weir between the upper and lower ponds and weir at Shore Road.

This comprehensive study and plan, funded through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Long Island Sound Futures Fund, identifies initial strategies to maintain and enhance the local watershed resources of Crab Meadow. It is meant to be a land management tool to guide the implementation of best practices. The plan was developed in consultation with many partners and stakeholders. There is now significant community buy-in to take action to protect and restore this important watershed. 

Following adoption of the plan, the Town of Huntington began working with US Fish and Wildlife Service and Audubon to study and restore Crab Meadow marsh and implement recommendations from the Stewardship Plan. Audubon, in partnership with Town of Huntington and USFWS, received a 2024 Long Island Sound Futures Fund Grant ($429K) to develop design plans for marsh restoration at Crab Meadow.

Increased development and the historic construction of a dam on Sunken Meadow Creek in the 1950’s led to reduced tidal exchange, increased water levels in the creek, poor water quality, and the proliferation of invasive species. In 2008 a number of partners (NYS OPRHP, NOAA, NYSDEC, LISS, TNC, Save the Sound, USFWS, LI Botanical Society) came together to work to restore the degraded marsh habitat around Sunken Meadow Creek, increase tidal flow, improve aquatic organism passage, limit invasives, and improve water quality. A restoration feasibility study was completed in 2010. In 2012 Superstorm Sandy blew out the dam on Sunken Meadow Creek, naturally kick-starting restoration. Following Superstorm Sandy, the project partners were able to quickly capitalize on available funding and grants, due to their prior planning efforts. A bridge was built across the Creek where the dam blew out, salt marsh habitat was restored at three locations, green infrastructure was installed in one of the parking areas to capture and treat stormwater runoff, fish passage feasibility on the creek was investigated, and education and outreach was conducted to thousands of people. These projects were completed in 2019. Now, with funding through Long Island Sound Futures Fund, Audubon NY is leading a large-scale marsh restoration project at Sunken Meadow Creek to restore important high-marsh habitat for at risk species, like the Saltmarsh Sparrow, and to increase the resilience of the marsh in the face of rising sea levels. Audubon will be working to finalize the designs and secure permits over the next two years, with on-the-ground restoration expected in 2026.