Fish Passage

Trout and other fish depend on the entire river system for survival, so connecting upstream and downstream habitats is important. Culverts under roads allow fish and other aquatic life to move from one habitat to another. As a result, the WRP and its partners are in the process of identifying and implementing a series of culvert modification projects to improve fish passage, thereby connecting vital habitats and increasing native fish populations.

Mill Brook, Pomfret

The Mill Brook culvert under White River Lane in Pomfret was modified in 1995 through a cooperative effort between the US Forest Service, the VT Department of Fish and Wildlife (VDFW), and Trout Unlimited. The project involved bolting wooden baffles to the floor of the culvert at evenly-spaced intervals to enhance fish passage during high-flow conditions. The wooden structures require routine maintenance, so WRP staff, volunteers, and partners replaced two broken baffles in July 2010. With help from Forest Service fisheries staff, a team of ten workers removed the broken baffles and installed new baffles to ensure continued fish passage to upstream habitats in Mill Brook.

Broad Brook, Sharon

The first culvert above the mouth of Broad Brook is a concrete arch located only a few hundred feet above the confluence with the White River. During its initial construction over two decades ago, the VDFW worked with the town to add a series of wooden baffles to provide some reduction of velocities at higher flows. The undersized culvert ultimately developed a perch of nearly 1 foot under low flow conditions, limiting aquatic organism passage.

The WRP and its partners recognized the problem and decided to retrofit this culvert to enhance passage. To eliminate the outlet perch, a rock weir was constructed downstream of the outlet pool in 2008, raising its elevation above the base of the culvert. The rock weir was designed like a natural stream feature and provides multiple passage pathways which change with stream flow levels. Fish and other aquatic organisms can now freely enter the culvert at a variety of flows.

The WRP is working with its partners to develop a design for the next culvert upstream, under I-89. Implementation of a fish passage enhancement project at the I-89 culvert will open 5 miles of upstream habitat.

Upper White and Tweed River culvert project

This project is focused on providing passage through the culvert on Marsh Brook at Quarry Hill Road in Rochester, the culvert in the Woodlawn Cemetery on Nason Brook in Rochester, and the culvert on Johnson Brook at Rte 100 in Pittsfield. The WRP and its partners have hired DuBois & King, an engineering firm based in Randolph, VT, to design fish passage enhancement projects at these three locations in the Upper White and Tweed River watersheds. When implemented, the projects will provide passage for all life stages of Eastern brook trout and Atlantic salmon as well as other aquatic species.

Project partners

White River Partnership
US Fish and Wildlife Service
US Forest Service
VT Agency of Transportation
VT Department of Environmental Conservation
VT Department of Fish and Wildlife
Trout Unlimited
Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission
Town of Pomfret
Town of Rochester
Town of Sharon