Connecticut River Conservancy Completes Large-Scale Water Quality Improvement Project on the Ottauquechee River in VT
Today the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) announced the completion of a large river restoration project on the Ottauquechee River in Woodstock, VT. The project brought together multiple partners and organizations to deliver a bioengineered solution to address the underlying cause of bank erosion and nitrogen loading in the river.
In addition to water quality benefits and habitat improvements, the work will allow the Ottauquechee River to dissipate some of its energy during high flows. Funding for the project was provided through the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (VT DEC) Clean Water Initiative Program (CWIP), the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Long Island Sound Futures Fund, and several other grants received by CRC.
Nearly 50 percent of the total nitrogen load in Vermont's Connecticut River basin is transported during the spring when ice melt and high flows result in excessive riverbank erosion, especially on lands with little or no protective riparian buffers. This excess nitrogen is transported downstream from Vermont tributaries of the Connecticut River to the Long Island Sound causing algal blooms, dead zones, and fish kills.
CRC and its project partners hired local contractors to install more than 150 large wood structures along 370 linear feet of the eroding streambank. Several hundred native trees and shrubs will be planted on more than half an acre of new floodplain next spring after ice out. The combination of wood structures, growing roots of the new vegetation, and floodplain space for the river to expand during high flow events will improve localized soil retention and filtration. The project was identified as a priority for state funding because the river here is considered in poor condition and "significant reductions in the nitrogen load are still needed to meet water quality goals." This project meets those goals and those of the Long Island Sound Futures Fund by reducing nitrogen loading by 99 lbs./year.
Bank erosion along the Ottauquechee River before biostabilization project. Root wads ready for installation. Ottauquechee River from above during bioengineering project. Credit: New England Laser.
Left: bank erosion along the Ottauquechee River before the project began. Center: root wads prepared for installation. Right: Ottauquechee River from above during bioengineering project (credit: New England Laser).
CRC thanks all of the partners and funders who helped make this project a reality, including; the private landowners on both sides of the river, the Town of Woodstock, the King Farm and Vermont Land Trust, the Ottauquechee Natural Resource Conservation District, Two Rivers Ottauquechee and Mt. Ascutney Regional Planning Commissions, Watersheds United Vermont, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and numerous private businesses/contractors who did a fantastic job from start to finish on design, permitting and construction.
For questions about the project, contact:
Ron Rhodes, Director of Programs
Connecticut River Conservancy
rrhodes@ctriver.org | 413-768-4994
