The Power of Partnerships; Aquatic Organism Passage Project on Crossett Brook

Crossett Brook contains native brook trout populations that due to an undersized; failing culvert on Hayes Road had reduced habitat connectivity. The culvert was located in the headwaters of Crossett Brook, with a drainage area of 1 square mile. The upper watershed is high gradient, mostly forested which was perfect trout habitat.

In May 2011 the crossing on Hayes Road washed out and was replaced by the adjacent landowner with a poorly built, undersized culvert. The culvert was distorted and sagging with substantial buckling of the roof under the weight of the roadway taking place. It was determined by an engineer that erosion was wearing away at the blocks supporting the structure causing the footings to become unstable. If the culvert had not been replaced, significant down-stream scour could have occurred. It was expected that the culvert would washout again causing an estimated 700 cubic yards of material to be washed into the stream.

In June 2015 the approval from the Town of Duxbury and adjacent landowners was received for the design. Final engineering and the completed design was approved by the town and all permitting agencies. All funding was secured and meetings were held with partner organizations to determine next steps. The RFP was issued and the contractor was selected in July 2015 with an anticipated start date of September for the instillation of the new culvert based on the engineer’s designs. Construction was completed in October of 2015.

Thanks to the efforts of the partnership between the organizations and funding sources, the project reconnect 3 miles of important native brook trout habitat waters, thereby supporting lower water temperatures, improving spawning success and promoting flood resiliency within the system.

The Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District thanks our partners the Friends of the Winooski River and the Town of Duxbury, as well as the many funding organizations; The Lake Champlain Basin Program, New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, US Fish and Wildlife, Vermont Community Foundation, Vermont Transportation, and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation as well as the contractors, engineers and all those who helped make this project possible.

For more information on partnering with the WNRCD on Aquatic Organism Passage projects within your community, please email: info@winooskinrcd.org