The Friends of the Farm River & Estuary (FFRE) is now powered up to control and remove invasive water chestnut already invading and threatening the 6-mile fresh water reach of the Farm River thanks to a $34,053 grant award announced by the Connecticut DEEP Aquatic Invasive Species Grant Award program last week.
The award focuses on knocking back the 1.5-acre infestation of water chestnut at the lovely Page’s Mill Pond located north of Rte. 80 in North Branford. The grant will also support FFRE in coordinating volunteer hand-pulling at three small colonies of water chestnut downstream in the River.
Invasive water chestnut (Trapa natans) is already beginning to choke out ponded and slow-moving stretches of the Farm River. As you can see below, it forms a mat of invasive plants so thick that the infestation effectively evicts all the fish, wading birds, ducks, frogs and salamanders from the infested area, slowly degrading the river’s web of life.
Those interested in lending a hand by kayak or canoe this June or July pulling water chestnut to protect their river, please contact Curt Johnson.
Friends of the Farm River and Estuary 
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