[3] This pollution had both ecological and anthropogenic effects on the surrounding environment, eventually leading to a need for remediation and cleanup.

Historical documents from Danbury and surrounding towns cited the river as a sewage dump around the 1880s, and the water was unusable for both agricultural and industrial use.

[4] It wasn't until a court case ruling] in 1895, along with the Clean Water Act in 1972 that the city of Danbury was required to take responsibility for the state of the river.

[10] The mercury pollution was detrimental to the river's life and the surrounding ecosystems, and didn't start to fully rebound until the construction of the sewage treatment plant.

Coordinated by the Housatonic Valley Association and with funding from Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, key stakeholders and municipalities formed the Still River Partners group and launched an EPA approved watershed planning process to improve the water quality of the Still River, activities which are still active today.

The city of Danbury has a $4.85 million bonding package, approved in a February 2008 referendum, for use in building recreational projects on city-owned land.

It includes completing the native plant hedgerow at Lake Kenosia (part of the Still River, west of the city) and doing a feasibility study to build a boardwalk and bird-watching site on about 20 acres (8.1 ha) the city owns in Mill Plain Swamp (Lake Kenosia discharges into the swamp, which drains into the Still River).

A separate $6.6 million bonding package, approved in the same referendum, could be used to purchase Sanford's Pond and building a trail through it.