BRATTLEBORO — The Windham Regional Commission (WRC) has secured funding from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation's Ecosystem Restoration Program for a project to complete a Phase 2 stream geomorphic assessment (SGA) of the Winhall River and Wardsboro Brook watersheds.
The project will update SGA data initially reported in 2006 and produce a river corridor management plan that will include developing five projects designed to protect and enhance the functions of each river corridor.
After the draft version of the river corridor plan is written, two public meetings will be held to seek feedback. Landowners with property adjacent to river segments will be contacted to discuss potential projects and desired outcomes. A steering committee of local, regional, and state agency representatives will guide the work through completion in November 2014.
The data collected from the stream geomorphic assessment will be used to create Fluvial Erosion Hazard (FEH) mapping on segments of the Winhall River and Wardsboro Brook. During Tropical Storm Irene, many towns in the Windham County region were affected by FEH flooding; as distinguished from the conventional inundation flooding that is mapped by FEMA.
Ultimately, the SGA's and FEH mapping will help towns make more informed decisions about land use planning and development near rivers and streams.
The Windham Regional Commission has previously partnered with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources to complete SGA's and Corridor Planning projects on the Saxtons, West, and Rock rivers and the Whetstone, Crosby, and Ball Mountain brooks.
The final study will be available on the WRC's website at http://www.windhamregional.org. For further information, contact planner Dinah Reed at 802-257-4547, ext. 109, or dreed@windhamregional.org.