WAMC News
(2009-07-20)
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WORTHINGTON, MA
(WAMC) -
Environmentalists are touting a stream restoration project in the Western Massachusetts Hilltown of Worthington as a model for restoring the health of thousands of similar waterways throughout the state. WAMC's Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill reports....
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Five years after Bronson Brook flooded out Dingle Road, the stream flows peacefully through a new culvert beneath the dirt road in the woods of Worthington. The new and improved culvert was designed and built at a cost of nearly 250 thousand dollars. It was paid for by a combination of funds from the state and grants from several environmental organizations.
Two large concrete box culverts, that had become clogged with debris, were replaced by a culvert with a natural bottom. The water flows through with no change in velocity , or depth, and this means fish can swim unimpeded.
Amy Singler is associate director of the river restoration program - a partnership of the organizations American Rivers and the Nature Conservancy. She says there are over a thousand culverts in the Westfield River Watershed alone, and many pose the same problems as the Dingle Road culvert did before it was replaced. All new and some replacement culverts must conform to the Massachusetts Stream Crossing Standards that call for natural water and wildlife movement.Another aspect of the Bronson Brook stream restoration project was the installation of some logs at the edges of the stream to add habitat for fish.
Click here to view video of the Bronson Brook Restoration Project
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