Ayers Brook 101

Ayers Brook 101

December 08, 2006

In December 2006, the WRP hosted a kick-off public meeting for the Ayers Brook Corridor Planning Project (Project). Funded by a grant from the UVCF’s Upper Connecticut River Mitigation and Enhancement Fund, the Project goal is to work with the communities of Brookfield, Braintree, and Randolph to develop a comprehensive management plan that will effectively restore Ayers Brook.

Ayers Brook is the focus of a corridor planning effort because 4 years of water quality monitoring data show elevated E.coli, temperature, and sediment. In addition, stream geomorphic assessments show that Ayers Brook is in the process of widening, which results in severely eroding banks. Potential solutions to these problems include restoring streamside vegetation; replacing undersized culverts and bridges; and conserving the river corridor – the river, its banks, and the flood plain on each side – to reduce future conflicts.

The public meeting was designed to educate the community about the Project and to encourage local involvement. Since December, the WRP and its partners have been meeting with individual landowners to identify opportunities to improve the stability of Ayers Brook on their properties. The projects identified will be the basis of a comprehensive management plan, which the WRP and its partners, including the VT Water Quality Division, the VT Agency of Agriculture, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission, and Bear Creek Environmental, will work together to implement.

The WRP is pursuing similar projects in the Upper River and Tweed River sub-watersheds. For more information, please contact Mary Russ at (802) 767-4600.