RUTLAND — On Feb. 29 the Rutland Natural Resources Conservation District (RNRCD) announced that it was awarded a Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (VTDEC), Ecosystem Restoration Program Grant ($82,500) to hire an Engineering Contractor to prepare a design for a stormwater swirl separator and install it at the outfall of an existing 36-inch drainage pipe, in the Adams Street right-of-way. The 36-inch drainage pipe discharges to Tenney Brook. This goal of this project is to reduce sediment and phosphorus from 10 impervious acres with the potential for future expansion to include a separated combined storm sewer drainage.
This project is located in the larger East Creek watershed and was identified in the Stormwater Master Plan for the Tenney Brook/East Creek completed by Watershed Consulting Associates in July of 2014. The plan identifies sites with existing stormwater problems and that have potential for a stormwater treatment retrofit.
Ecosystem Restoration Grants are made available to Vermont municipalities, local or regional governmental agencies, non-profit organizations, and citizens groups as part of the Ecosystem Restoration Program’s on-going efforts to reduce surface water pollution from phosphorus and sediment. Funded projects typically involve efforts to improve stream stability, protect against flood hazards, improve in-stream and riparian habitat, lessen the effects of stormwater runoff, protect and restore riparian wetlands, re-establish lake shoreline native vegetation, and enhance the environmental and economic sustainability of agricultural lands.