The town of Coventry’s Low Impact Development work group and a University of Connecticut student recently received a development award to begin implementing a LakeSmart Recognition Program for Coventry Lake.
Kaitlyn Mendez, a seventh semester environmental science student at UConn, has been involved in the program since its inception in January.
According to a press release, Mendez worked alongside Coventry’s Low Impact Development work group members Lori Mathieu, Richard Pearson, Darby Polansky and UConn and CT Sea Grant Assistant Extension Educator Owen Placido.
The Town of Coventry’s Low Impact Development group was established in December 2024 and aims to protect the water quality of Coventry Lake by educating the community on preventative measures, the release stated.
According to the release, the program is a non-regulatory initiative originally launched in Maine to encourage homeowners to introduce lake-friendly initiatives to their property.
In an interview with The Daily Campus, Mendez said they were awarded just over $4,900 from the Connecticut Sea Grant Project to help establish the program for Coventry Lake.
According to its website, the Connecticut Sea Grant’s mission is to “foster the balanced use and conservation of Connecticut’s coast and watersheds.”
The program is in response to the 2022 cyanobacteria blooms in Coventry Lake and aims to prevent further eutrophication by encouraging homeowners to reduce polluted runoff from entering the lake, the release said.
Mendez said this could be achieved through the implementation of buffers on lakeside properties, such as rain gardens, to prevent polluted runoff from making its way into the lake.
Mendez said volunteer evaluators will score homeowners on their implementation of these environmentally conscious initiatives to their property. Based on their score, homeowners will be awarded a sign of recognition.
Mendez said it would be beneficial to implement the program now for “preventative purposes.”
“The LakeSmart Recognition Program is needed to encourage the use of preventative practices to improve and protect the water quality of Coventry Lake so that our children and their grandchildren will enjoy the Lake as we do today,” Coventry Town Manager James Drum said in the press release.
According to Mendez, the program is set to launch this upcoming spring.
Mendez said she has been working on community outreach for the program to get homeowners interested in implementing the program for their properties.
According to the release, the program in Coventry is being developed as a model for other regional and statewide lake communities to adopt in the future.
Mendez first became connected with Coventry’s Low Impact Development work group last semester through the UConn Climate Corps program.
Mendez said the program was recommended to her for internship credits.
According to the release, the Climate Corps program was established by the CT Sea Grant Project and the UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research.
Over the course of the Climate Corps Program, undergraduate students are trained to work with Connecticut communities on semester-long projects that address local adaptation needs, the release said.
Mendez said this experience has helped her gain fundamental skills to help prepare for her future career plans following graduation.
Post-graduation, Mendez said she is “looking to do environmental consulting; kind of stuff like this where I use my background and give recommendations based on how I feel would be environmentally conscious.”