Driving west on Route 73 from Rochester toward Brandon Gap last week, you might have noticed a flurry of activity in the fields above the Forest Service CCC Camp. At any given time five excavators, two bulldozers, a skidder, a log loader, and a triaxle dump truck – all from Harvey’s Excavating – were moving and installing 60-foot trees with root wads attached, boulders, and gravel along a 1-mile stretch of the West Branch of the White River.
The large trees are being used to create “engineered log jams” that will protect the banks from erosion while creating shade, cover, and food for aquatic and terrestrial life in and along the river. To create the engineered log jam, excavator operators bury several “foundation” trees 40- to 50-feet deep in the riverbank, then weave dozens of successive trees into the buried foundation trees. The resulting structure mimics a natural log jam like those often found along the outside bends of wild, forested streams.
“The West Branch project is the first application of engineered log jams in New England,” says Mary Russ, Executive Director of the White River Partnership. The Partnership is administering the federal grant funds that are paying for the restoration project. “The Forest Service has worked with local, state, and federal partners to install these structures in other parts of the country – in West Virginia, the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska – but this project will be a model demonstrating how large wood can improve both habitat and flood resilience in a New England river system.”
Some local residents have expressed concern about putting large trees into the river because of the perception that trees can block culverts and bridges, and cause damages during a flood. But the West Branch project is designed to keep trees in place, which will improve bank stability and reduce the potential for future flood damages. The power of the water rushing through the outside bend strengthens the log jam, pushing the interwoven trunks together tighter and tighter with each high water event. Eventually the trees will decompose, creating rich soil for native trees to establish. The roots of the trees growing in the duff of the decomposing log jam will reinforce the stability of the bank while providing shade, cover, and food for aquatic and terrestrial life. And eventually, when those trees die, they will fall into the river, continuing the natural cycle of wood recruitment.
Greg Russ, the Partnership Project Manager, is helping oversee on-the-ground project implementation along with Forest Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and State of Vermont biologists, engineers, and river scientists. In addition to building log jams, Russ is working with these technical experts to restore channel dimension and profile by digging pools, building riffles, and creating bends; to stabilize disturbed riverbanks by wrapping coir and coconut fabric around exposed soils and holding the fabric in place with shrub willow stakes; and to reconnect floodplain and flood chutes by removing berms and lowering riverbanks. Next spring the Partnership will work with students and community volunteers to plant native trees along the river, restoring the riparian buffer.
On August 28 – the fourth anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene – the Partnership gave a presentation about the project to local residents who attended a house party fundraiser hosted by Larry & Lesley Straus of Rochester. Asked why the project was necessary, Greg Russ explained, “After extensive gravel was removed from the West Branch to restore Route 73 post-Irene, the landowners along the 1-mile stretch of river between King Farm Road and the confluence with Corporation Brook were more vulnerable to future flood damages. The Forest Service saw an opportunity to restore habitat in the West Branch while improving flood resilience, and have spent the last four years working with the West Branch landowners, the Town of Rochester, and state and federal agencies to make their vision a reality.”
In four weeks’ time the West Branch of the White River will look very different than it did in the weeks and months following Tropical Storm Irene. What was a wide, shallow, featureless river will be a meandering stream with deep pools. In time, as riverbank vegetation is restored and water temperatures drop, trout and other native fish will return to pre-flood population levels. And, as a bonus, land along the West Branch will be more resilient to flooding and flood damages.
To see pictures and updates about the West Branch restoration project, visit the White River Partnership Facebook page. Or check out the project after the heavy machines are gone; parking is available at the publicly-accessible Forest Service CCC Camp property.
News
Posted: September 4, 2015 by wrp_admin
Large wood improves habitat, flood resilience on the West Branch
Driving west on Route 73 from Rochester toward Brandon Gap last week, you might have noticed a flurry of activity in the fields above the Forest Service CCC Camp. At any given time five excavators, two bulldozers, a skidder, a log loader, and a triaxle dump truck – all from Harvey’s Excavating – were moving and installing 60-foot trees with root wads attached, boulders, and gravel along a 1-mile stretch of the West Branch of the White River.
The large trees are being used to create “engineered log jams” that will protect the banks from erosion while creating shade, cover, and food for aquatic and terrestrial life in and along the river. To create the engineered log jam, excavator operators bury several “foundation” trees 40- to 50-feet deep in the riverbank, then weave dozens of successive trees into the buried foundation trees. The resulting structure mimics a natural log jam like those often found along the outside bends of wild, forested streams.
“The West Branch project is the first application of engineered log jams in New England,” says Mary Russ, Executive Director of the White River Partnership. The Partnership is administering the federal grant funds that are paying for the restoration project. “The Forest Service has worked with local, state, and federal partners to install these structures in other parts of the country – in West Virginia, the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska – but this project will be a model demonstrating how large wood can improve both habitat and flood resilience in a New England river system.”
Some local residents have expressed concern about putting large trees into the river because of the perception that trees can block culverts and bridges, and cause damages during a flood. But the West Branch project is designed to keep trees in place, which will improve bank stability and reduce the potential for future flood damages. The power of the water rushing through the outside bend strengthens the log jam, pushing the interwoven trunks together tighter and tighter with each high water event. Eventually the trees will decompose, creating rich soil for native trees to establish. The roots of the trees growing in the duff of the decomposing log jam will reinforce the stability of the bank while providing shade, cover, and food for aquatic and terrestrial life. And eventually, when those trees die, they will fall into the river, continuing the natural cycle of wood recruitment.
Greg Russ, the Partnership Project Manager, is helping oversee on-the-ground project implementation along with Forest Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and State of Vermont biologists, engineers, and river scientists. In addition to building log jams, Russ is working with these technical experts to restore channel dimension and profile by digging pools, building riffles, and creating bends; to stabilize disturbed riverbanks by wrapping coir and coconut fabric around exposed soils and holding the fabric in place with shrub willow stakes; and to reconnect floodplain and flood chutes by removing berms and lowering riverbanks. Next spring the Partnership will work with students and community volunteers to plant native trees along the river, restoring the riparian buffer.
On August 28 – the fourth anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene – the Partnership gave a presentation about the project to local residents who attended a house party fundraiser hosted by Larry & Lesley Straus of Rochester. Asked why the project was necessary, Greg Russ explained, “After extensive gravel was removed from the West Branch to restore Route 73 post-Irene, the landowners along the 1-mile stretch of river between King Farm Road and the confluence with Corporation Brook were more vulnerable to future flood damages. The Forest Service saw an opportunity to restore habitat in the West Branch while improving flood resilience, and have spent the last four years working with the West Branch landowners, the Town of Rochester, and state and federal agencies to make their vision a reality.”
In four weeks’ time the West Branch of the White River will look very different than it did in the weeks and months following Tropical Storm Irene. What was a wide, shallow, featureless river will be a meandering stream with deep pools. In time, as riverbank vegetation is restored and water temperatures drop, trout and other native fish will return to pre-flood population levels. And, as a bonus, land along the West Branch will be more resilient to flooding and flood damages.
To see pictures and updates about the West Branch restoration project, visit the White River Partnership Facebook page. Or check out the project after the heavy machines are gone; parking is available at the publicly-accessible Forest Service CCC Camp property.
Posted: June 30, 2015 by wrp_admin
Celebration planned at White River access site in Royalton
A free public event on Friday, July 10 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm will celebrate the permanent protection of “Pinch Rock,” a treasured swimming hole and fishing spot on the White River in Royalton.
Pinch Rock is a bedrock outcropping located opposite 3272 Route 14 in Royalton, which provides swimmers, anglers, and tubers convenient and safe access to the White River. After flooding from Tropical Storm Irene severely eroded the banks, parking along Route 14 has been reestablished, access improved with a stone stairway to the river, and trees planted by the White River Partnership.
In May Royalton resident Peg Elmer generously donated this riverside property, including the rock, to the Vermont River Conservancy. VRC will hold a perpetual public access and conservation easement on the parcel, and convey ownership to the Town of Royalton this summer.
Funding for the river access protection project was provided by individual donors to the White River Partnership’s 2010 Landscape Auction and the Vermont River Conservancy’s Canute Dalmasse Legacy Fund.
The July 10 celebration will start at the Pinch Rock access site at 5pm, and will include a site tour and sign unveiling, followed by a short (40-60 minutes by tube) river trip from Pinch Rock to the South Royalton bridge, and ending with a community potluck meal on the Vermont Law School lawn. Attendees should provide tubes and a potluck dish to share. A carpool will be provided from the Vermont Law School parking lot starting at 4:30pm.
To RSVP please call 802-763-7733 or email info[at]whiteriverpartnership.org.
Posted: June 19, 2015 by wrp_admin
Volunteers monitor water quality at swimming holes
On June 3, the White River Partnership (WRP) kicked-off its 15th season of monitoring water quality at 22 sites along the White River and its tributaries. WRP staff and twenty trained volunteers will keep tabs on bacteria, conductivity, and water clarity at swimming holes and other public access sites around the watershed every other Wednesday through September 23.
In 2001, the WRP developed the volunteer-led Water Quality Monitoring Program in response to community concerns that bacteria and other contaminants might be making some waters unsafe for recreation. Because of its close relationship to public health, we make the bacteria results available to the public every other Thursday via email, our website, and our Facebook page.
After the summer monitoring season wraps up, the WRP analyzes data gathered at each site to understand water quality trends and publishes a report – here are a few highlights from our 2014 Water Quality Report:
Because of the relationship between rainfall and bacteria levels, the WRP recommends taking precautions when deciding to recreate in the White River and its tributaries. As a rule of thumb, avoid swimming or tubing in the White River following a rain event and/or if the water is muddy because there may be an increased risk of exposure to bacterial contamination.
Do you swim, paddle, or tube in the White River? Check out the latest bacteria results online, which we post the Thursday following the most recent test date. Or if you would like to receive the biweekly bacteria results directly, please contact WRP Monitoring Coordinator Emily Miller at emily[at]whiteriverpartnership.org or 802-763-7733.
Visit our Water Quality Monitoring project page to learn more!