Paddle With A Purpose — Water Chestnut Removal Work Parties

To view our 2024 paddling schedule, click here.

Removing invasive water chestnut plants (Trapa natans) from local waterways is one of the Jonah Center’s major projects.  Our work focuses on the Floating Meadows, a 1000 acre freshwater tidal marshland between Middletown and  Cromwell, where the Coginchaug River flows into the Mattabesset River. Pecausett Pond in Portland is another focus area, as well as the shoreline of the Connecticut  River between the Rocky Hill & Glastonbury Ferry and Middle Haddam.

Summer “paddle with a purpose” work parties begin in late May or early June.  We partner with the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) in this work. Click on the link at the top of this post to sign up for last minute weather-related updates or changes to the schedule. CRC has a limited number of kayaks to loan to paddlers. Let us know if you wish to borrow one.