The Windham County Natural Resources Conservation District produced an informational booklet for the citizens of the Whetstone Brook Watershed in southeastern Vermont. This rocky river cascades down flowing east along Vermont Route 9 and empties into the flatland of the Connecticut River basin at 250 feet in Brattleboro.

 The purpose of this booklet is to provide a concise collection of facts about floodplains, so that the citizens of the Whetstone watershed can make informed decisions regarding community development guidelines that will support a sustainable environment in which residents can live and grow for generations to come. Because the Whetstone drops so much in elevation, it’s surrounding lands are particularly susceptible to flash flooding.  Also, because the base of the Whetstone is bedrock, floodwaters cannot cut a deeper path and instead spread out over the land, thus the surrounding communities are also much more vulnerable to inundation by floodwaters.

 Whetstone Booklet 02/04/2008,20:19 2.77 Mb

Riparian Buffer Installation for the Houston Property on the West River, Newfane, VT

Through their water quality monitoring program, WRWA identified several reaches of the West River where levels of E. coli, and/or total phosphorous exceeded water quality guidance standards.  These areas were also identified as potential project sites where a SEP would be beneficial.  After negotiations with several landowners in the identified areas, a project site was selected and a native-plant riparian buffer was installed using the SEP funding.  The following report serves as the final documentation for my Masters project as well as a project report for WRWA, the Windham County NRCD, and the property owners where the project took place.  

 vialeproject report 18/10/2007,15:46 262.24 Kb