10/17/2013 New England Culvert Project Colin Lawson Project Coordinator Water in the Woods Presentation 10/17/2013 Protect Reconnect Restore Sustain What we’ll cover today! Overview of the New England Culvert Project Strategy on how NECP prioritizes restorations Project examples and a few do’s and don’ts Collaboration: it is essential but takes time Ideas Moving Forward 2 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 1 10/17/2013 Short & Long Term Goals Restore In-stream Connectivity Complete Stream Crossing Assessments Improve Aquatic Habitat Riparian Area Restoration Population & Migration Monitoring 3 A 1. New England Culvert Project C • White Mtn National Forest T • Green Mtn National Forest • Ashuelot River I • Westfield River V E 2. Upper Connecticut River Restoration Initiative • Priority Area 6 - Assessments / restorations P 3. TU / NOAA Partnership • Working with TU Chapters to generate projects R • Review grant application O • Winnicut River Restoration J 4. Piscataquog River E • Culvert Assessment / Restoration Project C • Hydraulic Modeling Project T 5. NRCS Wood Loading Projects (NH) S 4 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 2 10/17/2013 The New England Culvert Project 1. Open 60 miles of upstream habitat In High Priority watersheds 2. Remove, replace or retrofit 12 stream crossings Engage stakeholder groups TU Chapter Participation Create long term commitment from watershed groups 5 The key is to remove instream barriers to AOP... 6 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 3 10/17/2013 the restore up and down stream connectivity. 7 We need to prepare for streams changing... 1979 dramatically over time! 1998 Photos courtesy of Dan Cenderelli, USFS 8 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 4 10/17/2013 We know lots of bad crossings exist... the question is how do we change the model? 9 10 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 5 10/17/2013 Focus on Ecosystem Vulnerability • Improve habitat connectivity • Open up large number of stream miles • Focus on species diversity & productivity 11 Thompson Brook, Winnicut River, Greenland, NH 12 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 6 10/17/2013 Passage needs to work for all critters... as well as stormwater hydraulics, ...and geomorphic functions! 13 The Hourglass… Undersized crossings erode both up- and downstream of crossing Undersized Culvert 14 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 7 10/17/2013 Allow proper natural • Bankfull channel width and geomorphic • Flood plain access functions to exist... • Sediment transport 15 Undersized culverts can severely impact the fisheries resource 1. Bed and/or bank erosion 2. Sedimentation 3. Nutrient/pollutant loading 4. Stream warming 5. Decrease/elimination of wood 6. Direct habitat loss 16 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 8 10/17/2013 Initial CT River Project Locations • White Mountains Region, NH • Green Mountains Region, VT • Ashuelot River, NH • Westfield River, MA 17 Watershed Stats Watershed Size Main Stem Major Existing (mi2 & Acres) (mi) Tributaries Crossings Upper 252 / 161,280 42 4 91 Ammonoosuc River White River 710 / 454,400 56 5 600 + Ashuelot River 425 / 272,000 64 11 1,097 Westfield River 519 / 332,160 78 3 1,156 18 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 9 10/17/2013 Ashuelot River Watershed Priority Culvert Restorations 19 Ecological Metrics Used 1. Up/down stream barriers 10. Quality of stream habitat 2. Conserved lands 11. Rare / endangered species 3. Habitat integrity 12. Restoration expense 4. Hydrologic capacity 13. Severity of barrier 5. Impervious surfaces 14. Species presence / absence 6. Land cover 15. Stream channel flood risk 7. Land use 16. Stream flow regime 8. Natural communities 17. Town / State support 9. Up / down stream habitat 18. Water quality Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 10 10/17/2013 NHF&G Species presence / absence data Trout Unlimited’s CSI Research Data Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 11 10/17/2013 Top Priority Assessment Areas Project (to date) Team’s Catchments Total 12 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 12 10/17/2013 ARLAC’s Catchments Total 13 Minnewawa Brook drainage area of 33.0 sq miles Pros: a about 1/2 falls within Q2C core and support areas b about 1/4 portion is conservation lands c presence of EBT from 2010 NHFG survey d a lot of NRCS projects completed e seven public access areas available Cons: f falls into Poor CSI category g also absence of EBT from 2010 NHFG survey Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 13 10/17/2013 Westfield River Watershed 1. Project team support from AR, TNC, MADER, and TU 2. Presently working to restore three high priority sites 3. Many active stakeholder groups including state, federal, and private 4. Pioneer Valley and Taconic TU Chapters actively involved 27 GIS Co-occurrence Modeling Zeroing in on restoration sites... 28 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 14 10/17/2013 Road Stream Crossing Overview Westfield River Barriers Number Percent Passable 209 19.8 Minor 176 16.6 Significant 358 33.9 Un-surveyed 313 29.6 29 Kinne Brook Restoration Project 1 Dam 2 Culverts Found Dam Using Google Earth Review 30 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 15 10/17/2013 31 Kinne Brook Barriers 32 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 16 10/17/2013 What we will restored… Before TS Irene After TS Irene to reconnect over 10 miles of upstream habitat. 33 Finished August 18, 2011 Multi-plate Arch Culvert 50.6 inches long 10 feet wide 6 feet high Upper Ammonoosuc River Loop Road Restoration Project White Mtn. National Forest 34 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 17 10/17/2013 It Takes a Lot of Time Including all interested stakeholders Finding financial support through grant writing Organizing volunteers to work on field surveys ANOTHER MEETING ! Communicating with all stakeholders / landowners Piscataquog River Stream Crossing Assessment Project 36 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 18 10/17/2013 Project Development / Support • Piscataquog River Eastern Brook Trout Coalition Community Based Watershed Advocacy Organization • Southern NH Planning Commission (SNHPC) Contracted with Trout Unlimited to Complete Assessments $ • NH Dept. of Environmental Services (NHDES) Administers Funds and Distributes to Regional Planning Commissions • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Resources (ARRAR) Clean Water Act – Section 604b Grant 37 38 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 19 10/17/2013 Developing Grid Based Field Maps 1:28,000 39 Volunteer help from local and regional: 800 Hours 35 Field Days • 15 TU Chapter Members • 5 Community Residents • 5 Graduate Students 40 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 20 10/17/2013 Watershed Size Sq Miles Acres Post Field Work 217 138,880 Visited 488 Assessed 418 Crossings by Catchment: Crossing by Catchment: Lower Piscataquog River 128 Lower Piscataquog 92 22% Middle Branch Piscataquog River 99 South Branch 78 19% South Branch Catchment 93 Middle Branch 73 17% Everett Lake Catchment 74 Everett Lake 62 15% Rand Brook Catchment 58 Rand Brook 48 11% Weare Reservoir 48 Weare Reservior 43 10% Upper Piscataquog River 27 Upper Piscataquog 22 5% Total 527 418 100% 41 The AOP Model MA Developed = VT borrowed from MA = NH Borrowed From VT 42 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 21 10/17/2013 Piscataquog River AOP Results 43 Piscataquog River AOP Results Culvert Types 200 180 160 178 176 140 120 Culvert 100 80 Condition Number of Crossings 60 40 20 39 17 8 0 New Old Rusted Collapsing Eroding 44 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 22 10/17/2013 Crossing Size as % of Bankfull Width Outlet 34 % Condition 45 Example of Output in Final Report to Towns 46 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 23 10/17/2013 Hydraulic Modeling Project $ 70,000 Research Grant • Southern NH Planning Commission (SNHPC) Contracted with Trout Unlimited to Complete Assessments • NH Dept. of Transportation (NHDOT) $ Administers Funds and Distributes to Regional Planning Commissions • Federal Highway Administration Climate Change and Extreme Weather Vulnerability Assessments and Adaptation Analysis 47 Project team 1. Joel Ballestero, P.E.: Principal, Streamworks Engineering, 2. Tom Ballestero, Ph.D.: Director, UNH Stormwater Center 3. Colin Lawson: New England Culvert Project Coord.; Trout Unlimited 4. Michael Simpson: Dr., Environmental Studies Dept., Antioch University 5. Apollinaire William: Ph.D. Candidate, GIS Lab, Antioch University Review Committee 1. Rick Chormann: State Geologist, New Hampshire Geological Survey 2. Dan Dauwalter, PhD, Fisheries Specialist, Science Team, Trout Unlimited 3. Scott Jackson, Director, NRCE Program, UMass, Amherst, MA 4. Keith Robinson: Hydrologist, Director, USGS NH-VT Water Science Ctr. 5. Ann M. Scholz, P.E.: Assistant Research Engineer, NHDOT 6. Jed Wright: Senior Fish & Wildlife Biologist, US Fish & Wildlife Service 48 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 24 10/17/2013 Excel Based Model Using Field and GIS Data 49 Community Vulnerability Mapping 50 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough 25 10/17/2013 High Quality Habitat Requires Water Depths Large Wood Water quality Cold Temperatures Riparian Vegetation Structure Diversity Gravel Substrate In-stream Vegetation Water Velocity 51 Hand Placement 52 Water in the Woods, Fox State Forest, Hillsborough