November 26, 2018
Johnson, Vt. – This fall, two streams in Mt. Mansfield State Forest were restored thanks to a Vermont Ecosystem Restoration Program (ERP) grant. A 30-year old culvert was removed and replaced with a wooden bridge along Boulley Brook and a series of culverts were replaced along Jacob Brook.
“Boulley Brook is an important tributary of the trout-rich Waterman Brook, which flows into the Lamoille River. We installed a new bridge because the old culvert was beginning to fail, causing the soil to erode into the brook. By removing the culvert and stabilizing the banks, we’ll be able to prevent erosion in the future,”said Jack O’Wril, State Lands Forester in the Central Vermont Office of Forests, Parks and Recreation (FPR).
The second project on French Hill in Johnson completely removed another old and deteriorating 5-foot in-stream culvert in Jacob Brook. It also addressed eleven ditch culverts which had been in place on the forest road. These cross drains were removed and replaced with waterbars, effectively disconnecting road surface drainage from flowing into four intermittent streams. Water bars are channel-and-berm structures built into a trail or roadway to slow water flow and trap sediment before it discharges into streams or other water bodies.
The ERP grant is administered by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and project work was done by local contractors. Alan Cary of Jeffersonville completed the Boulley Brook bridge project and Stowe-based Dale E. Percy, Inc. contracted to complete the French Hill project. The two projects resulted in a win for water quality and local businesses.