West River (Connecticut)

There is a public canoe launch, maintained by the City of New Haven Department of Parks, Recreation, and Trees, in the constructed channel at Derby Avenue.

At the time, the Yale athletic program studied the idea of building a larger course for use in collegiate rowing competitions, but evidently decided against it.

However, the flapper gates degraded the environment in several ways: they blocked fish passage upstream to historic spawning areas; they change the vegetation to a fresh water regime; they limited the extent of flushing in the reflecting pool; and they reduced tidal influence up to and including the Duck Pond in Edgewood Park.

Most notably aggressive root systems and dense growth patterns allowed the common reed (Phragmites australis) to crowd out a variety of native species.

The Phragmite population is showing signs of being stressed, acres of tidal wetland have been restored, and anecdotal evidence of increased fish passage has been reported.