We’ve learned so much about the importance of wetlands throughout American history! Thankfully, a greater awareness about the 50% loss of wetlands nationwide lead to greater conservation efforts to protect the remainder. Since then wetland losses have drastically slowed down and Vermont’s water quality and wildlife have benefited from an increase in wetland restoration efforts. … Continue reading
The Clean Water Service Delivery Act of 2019 (Act 76) establishes a new water quality project delivery approach to meet Vermont’s clean water goals, and establishes a long term funding source for the Vermont Clean Water Fund. Act 76 establishes new regional organizations called Clean Water Service Providers (CWSPs). With policy and priority setting from … Continue reading
The Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission has been hard at work assisting in the implementation of two stormwater projects in Barre City and Northfield! As of winter 2019, both of these projects are now complete. The Barre City project is located at the end of Pouliot Avenue, and has mitigated the effects of a gully … Continue reading
On November 1st 2019, the Route 15 Bypass Culvert Replacement Project was put to the test! Instead of watching flood waters gush into the Village of Jeffersonville, for the first-time, residents saw the new upsized culvert in action. Water rushed through the new 20-foot long and 4-foot-deep culvert (formerly an 18-inch drainage culvert) and drained … Continue reading
Over the summer and early fall Windham Regional Commission and the Connecticut River Conservancy worked with landowners in Dummerston to remove a dam on private property on the Crosby Brook. The work was supported by a grant from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. This defunct dam was impairing the natural flow of the river, … Continue reading
On October 31, Ottauquechee Natural Resources Conservation District coordinated a hands-on experience for Julie Brown’s Woodstock Union Structured Literacy class with US Fish & Wildlife to plant bareroot trees on Howard Jonas’ farm in Bridgewater, VT. This was a follow up for a 2017 VTDEC Trees for Stream program to replace trees damaged over the … Continue reading
This fall Barton Road in West Windsor got a makeover. Road repair is nothing new, but this project was a collaborative effort between the town of West Windsor Conservation Commission, Green Mountain Horse Association and the West Windsor Moonlighters Snowmobile Club. Years of erosion and washouts made travel for snowmobiles, mountain bikes and horseback riders … Continue reading
We organized an Ag Partner meeting this spring with farmers as well as some of the agencies that work with landowners to manage lands to preserve water quality: UVM Extension, the Vermont Dept. of Agriculture (VAAFM), and NRCS. Our goal was to report our water quality results – related to concentrations of phosphorus, nitrogen and … Continue reading
This August marked the fourth year that ECO AmeriCorps members have strengthened water quality efforts in Franklin County and throughout Vermont. Members, driven by passion for the environment and curiosity about career paths, bring increasingly impressive expertise from their recent college educations. Liza Lemieux, who graduated from the University of Vermont in 2018 with a … Continue reading
The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (VT DEC) and the White River Natural Resources Conservation District (WRNRCD) will be co-hosting a meeting to kick-off the 5-year update of the Basin 14 Tactical Basin Plan on November 13th at the Space on Main in Bradford, VT from 4:30pm – 6:00pm. Basin 14 includes the Stevens, Wells, … Continue reading
