News
Powerful legislation in Connecticut requires water companies—the second-largest owners of open space in the state—to give land trusts a head start when they put land up for sale. You get 90 days to learn about the conservation opportunity and evaluate whether you’re interested in the purchase of water company land before a developer or other buyer can step in.
But the burden of making yourself known to the sellers is on you! That’s why it’s so important to file your contact information with the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), which oversees the sale of water company lands, and keep it up-to-date. When a water company puts land up for sale, the water company is required by law to let you know—if you’ve told them how to reach you.
Currently, many land trusts are missing or have old information on file in PURA’s notification list. So, we’ve started a campaign to get that list updated. Here’s what you need to do before January 15:
- Look at the current list to see if your contact info is up-to-date.
- If it is not current, or if you are not on the list at all, fill out this form.
- Send that form to pura.executivesecretary@ct.gov and cc: CLCC.
Being notified of a sale can lead to big results. When the chance arises to purchase and preserve valuable land, the law provides water companies incentives, in the form of tax credits and the allocation of economic benefits to shareholders, which encourage them to sell to a land trust or other private, nonprofit landholding organization at a cost below market value and for permanent conservation.
Read more about how these laws work to promote conservation, with your help, here. Water companies can be valuable conservation partners with a shared interest in preserving open space. But that partnership only works if you’re on the list.
We’ll reach out to you annually to remind you to update your contact information. But don’t miss this year’s January 15 deadline to be included for 2023!
Need more help? Contact CLCC executive director Amy Blaymore Paterson at abpaterson@ctconservation.org
Photo credit: Russell Caron
