News

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Sept. 20, 2024 — The Regional Water Authority (RWA) has acquired nearly 78 acres of open space off Mountain Road in Cheshire, securing it against future development and expanding the land buffer protecting RWA water sources.

The RWA completed the purchase of the forested parcel on Mountain Road from Blue Trails LLC on August 30, with support from a $188,500 grant from the State of Connecticut’s Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Grant Program.

The property is located within the RWA’s Lake Whitney watershed and will become part of an approximately 900-acre block of protected forest straddling the Cheshire-Prospect border. It abuts existing RWA property in Prospect, and it is bounded to the south and north by open-space parcels owned by the Town of Cheshire. It contains a small tributary of the Mill River, which is part of a 20-acre wetland that helps supply the RWA’s Lake Whitney reservoir system. The western third of the property is a steep slope that is part of West Rock Ridge.

“Since 2007, the RWA has pursued a proactive policy of identifying and acquiring land that protects its watershed,” said John Triana, the RWA’s manager of real estate.

“One of the most effective ways for us to be able to supply good, clean water to our consumers — now and in the future — is to protect our water sources and the watershed lands that surround them,” Triana added. “By acquiring this parcel and protecting it from development, we can maintain it in a pristine, natural state in perpetuity.”

The parcel and neighboring open-space properties, which are traversed by numerous trails, are available to residents for hiking, bird-watching and other passive recreational activities. The RWA owns and manages approximately 28,000 acres of watershed property.