Our Second LIS field trip took us from the Berkshire Hills where the Naugatuck River begins down to the Long Island Sound where the Naugatuck River drains into our Oceans. Our first stop was at the US ARMY Corps of Engineer's Flood control dam where park ranger Rachel Beach shared with us the history, management, and daily operations of the Thomaston Dam. This is one of a series of Dams built in response to the Flood of 1955 as a protective measure against catastrophic flood damage. We then visited the Plum & Atwood Dam (not pictured) to see how a low head industrial dam left over from a now defunct factory is still impacting the river today. In Seymour we visited a fish passage that allows for fish to navigate an otherwise impassible obstacle; the Tingue Dam. Fish species that nest up river and spend their adult life in the oceans must be able to travel up and down river to survive. Paul Woodworth, senior director of ecological restoration at Save The Sound explained the impacts of Dams, the value of river restoration, environmental justice, and, the challenges involved in their removal. Students learned of the four fundamental flows of rivers and the five natural Species of the Naugatuck River. Students visited the Confluence of the Naugatuck and Housatonic Rivers (not pictured) where they identified more threats to the health of our rivers and oceans. Our final stop was at the CT Audubon Center at Milford point where the river meets the sea. Here we met with Sue Quincy from CT Deep to learn how impervious surfaces mitigate runoff to protect the health of our waterways.