Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Watershed Management Division Black and Ottauquechee Rivers and adjacent Connecticut River & tributaries Spencer, Blood, Mill, Mill and Lulls Brooks 2018 TACTICAL BASIN PLAN 2018 Black and Ottauquechee Rivers and adjacent Connecticut River Tactical Basin Plan Page 1 All Towns Within Basin 10 Andover Mt. Holly Baltimore Plymouth Barnard Pomfret Bridgewater Reading Cavendish Shrewsbury Chester Springfield Hartford Stockbridge* Hartland Weathersfield Killington West Windsor Ludlow Windsor Mendon* Woodstock Black River Ottauquechee River Andover* Barnard Baltimore Bridgewater Cavendish Hartford Chester Hartland Ludlow Killington Mount Holly Mendon* Plymouth Plymouth Reading Pomfret Shrewsbury Reading Springfield Shrewsbury Weathersfield Stockbridge* West Windsor Woodstock Connecticut River & Tributary Brooks Hartford Weathersfield Hartland West Windsor Reading Windsor Springfield * Towns with < 3 sq. mi. in Basin 10 2018 Black and Ottauquechee Rivers and adjacent Connecticut River Tactical Basin Plan Page 3 Basin 10 2018 Black and Ottauquechee Rivers and adjacent Connecticut River Tactical Basin Plan Page 4 Contents Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................... 9 Summary of Protection Opportunities ......................................................................................... 12 Chapter 1 – Tactical Basin Planning Process & Watershed Description ....................................... 15 Tactical Basin Planning Process .................................................................................................... 15 Plan Implementation .................................................................................................................... 15 Vermont Water Quality Standards and Clean Water Act ............................................................. 17 Regional Conformance .................................................................................................................. 18 Basin Description .......................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 2 – Water Quality in the Basin ........................................................................................ 21 Overview of Water Resources and Stressors ................................................................................ 21 Summary of Surface Water Assessments ..................................................................................... 23 Condition of Specific Sub-watersheds .......................................................................................... 26 Black River …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………28 Lower Black River – mouth to the North Springfield Reservoir dam ........................................... 28 Lower Black River – sub-watersheds ............................................................................................ 28 Middle Black River – North Springfield dam to Cavendish dam ................................................... 29 Middle Black River –Cavendish dam to Branch Brook .................................................................. 29 Black River Headwaters – Branch Brook to headwaters .............................................................. 31 Ottauquechee River ...................................................................................................................... 32 Lower Ottauquechee River – mouth to Kedron Brook ................................................................. 32 Middle Ottauquechee River – Kedron Brook to Broad Brook ...................................................... 34 Upper Ottauquechee River - Broad Brook to headwaters ........................................................... 37 Connecticut River and tributary streams ...................................................................................... 40 Connecticut River – White River Junction to Springfield .............................................................. 40 Tributaries to the Connecticut River – – (listed from north to south) ......................................... 40 Lakes and Ponds ............................................................................................................................ 41 2018 Black and Ottauquechee Rivers and adjacent Connecticut River Tactical Basin Plan Page 5 Wetlands 49 Fisheries Description ..................................................................................................................... 50 Special Values and Features ......................................................................................................... 51 Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species and Natural Communities ....................................... 55 Water Quality Monitoring and Assessment Needs ...................................................................... 55 Chapter 3 – Addressing Stressors, Impaired Waters and TMDLs ................................................. 59 Major Stressors ............................................................................................................................. 59 Priority Waters .............................................................................................................................. 59 Impaired, Stressed and Altered Waters Watershed Summary of Segments with Impacts ......... 60 Total Maximum Daily Loads .......................................................................................................... 68 TMDL Implementation Update ..................................................................................................... 71 Dams and Dam Removal ............................................................................................................... 72 Known Contaminants & Direct Discharges ................................................................................... 74 Flood Resiliency ............................................................................................................................ 81 Chapter 4 – Management Goals for Protecting Surface Waters .................................................. 87 Reclassification Priorities .............................................................................................................. 91 Outstanding Resource Waters ...................................................................................................... 93 Class I Wetland Designation ......................................................................................................... 94 Existing Uses ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 95 Chapter 5 – Project Implementation: Protection and Remediation Actions ............................... 97 Projects Completed ....................................................................................................................... 97 Table 19. Summary of Implementation Projects ........................................................................ 100 References………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 105 Acronyms & Abbreviations ......................................................................................................... 106 Glossary……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 109 Appendices .................................................................................................................................. 112 APPENDIX A. – Basin Planning meetings .................................................................................... 113 APPENDIX B. – Fisheries Assessments ........................................................................................ 116 2018 Black and Ottauquechee Rivers and adjacent Connecticut River Tactical Basin Plan Page 6 APPENDIX C. – Existing Uses in Basin 10 Waters ........................................................................ 132 APPENDIX D. – Municipal Planning and Water Resources Review ............................................. 140 APPENDIX E. – Dams in Basin 10 ................................................................................................. 148 APPENDIX F. – USACE / VT ANR / USFWS Agreement & ANR Factsheet .................................... 153 APPENDIX G. – Draft Plan Public Comment Responsiveness Summary ..................................... 160 APPENDIX H. – Potential funding sources .................................................................................. 182 APPENDIX I. – Regulatory and Non-Regulatory Programs Related To Protecting and Restoring Waters ................................................................................................................. 183 Acronyms……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….184 List of Figures Figure 1. Basin 10 Watersheds Figure 2. Stream Geomorphic Assessments Figure 3. Biomonitoring Sites Figure 4. Lower Black River Figure 5a. Middle Black River Figure 5b. Middle Black River Figure 6. Okemo Biomonitoring Sites Figure 7. Black River Headwater Figure 8. North Branch Black Rivers Figure 9 Sherman Brook Biomonitoring Sites Figure 10. Lower Ottauquechee River Figure 11. Barnard Brook Figure 12. Kedron Brook Figure 13. Middle Ottauquechee River Figure 14. North Branch Ottauquechee River & Conserved Lands Figure 15. Chateauguay-No Town Conservation Project Figure 16. Upper Ottauquechee River Figure 17. Roaring Brook Biomonitoring Sites Figure 18. Hartland-Windsor Direct Figure 19. Mill Brook Figure