Hanover, NH – On Thursday, March 23 from 7-9pm the Howe Library (13 E. South Street, Mayer Room) will host a lively and informative free public presentation of The Power of Water / The Power of Words. This joint project of the Connecticut River Watershed Council (CRC) and Art & Dialogue will collect your aspirations for the future of the Connecticut River. As owners of our rivers, you have a unique opportunity to have a say in how five Connecticut River hydropower facilities will be operated for several generations. The five hydropower facilities, from Wilder, VT to Montague, MA, are currently being relicensed—a process that happens only once every 30-50 years.
This is your chance to tell legislators and energy regulators what your rivers mean to you. Participants young and old are invited to share river stories and hopes and dreams for the future of our rivers on sculpted pieces of colored paper that will be transformed into a massive and inspiring community art installation. All of these stories will also be submitted as official public comment to the government hydroelectricity relicensing agencies. Assembled in a flowing wall display, it speaks of the Connecticut River being cleaner and hydropower greener. The full art exhibit will be on display in the Vermont State House for the month of March and other locations to be determined.
Hydropower facilities on the Connecticut River generate renewable energy but also significantly impact migratory fish passage and habitat for many species including endangered short nose sturgeon, as well as cause significant erosion of riverbanks along the 200 miles impacted by these five facilities. Hydropower facilities also impact recreational opportunities in many ways—positive and negative.
CRC and Art & Dialogue are available to bring this FREE presentation to your school, organization or community group. For more information, contact Colleen Bent, at cbent@ctriver.org or 413-772-2020 ext.206. Generously funded by the Putnam Foundation; co-sponsored by Hanover Conservancy.
To learn more about CRC, or to join the effort and help protect our rivers, visit ctriver.org.
Learn more about Art & Dialogue at www.artanddialogue.org.
# # #
