Castleton River Headwaters Stormwater Master Plan receives $28,000 grant

POULTNEY—Poultney Mettowee Natural Resource Conservation District (PMNRCD) has been awarded a $28,000 grant as part of Vermont’s Clean Water Fund to identify sources of stormwater runoff and propose high priority stormwater mitigation projects. PMNRCD will work with the Rutland Regional Planning Commission (RRPC), the town of Castleton, and the town of Hubbardton to conduct stormwater project identification and ranking within the Castleton River headwaters. Additional outreach will be provided to the towns of Ira, West Rutland, and Pittsford.
“Everyone we’ve worked with on this project so far has been very supportive and positive. We look forward to implementing the projects identified through this grant with the help and support of the communities in the watershed” said Hilary Solomon, district manager, PMNRCD.
The efforts made possible by this grant will help protect and potentially improve water quality in both the Castleton Watershed and downstream in Lake Champlain.  Additionally, efforts to slow and reduce the flow of stormwater to streams during rain events also protect against floods and decrease streambank erosion.
The Castleton Watershed has many known project opportunities including abandoned dams, potential agricultural projects, culvert replacement projects, riparian buffer projects, steep roads/sediment reduction projects, and several others. The goal of this project is to work with the towns in the watershed to identify additional project opportunities, review and map existing data, conduct field assessments to verify and update projects, then prioritize the projects based on their comparative reductions in target pollutants and stormwater runoff volume. The final list of projects will be prioritized by January 2018 to include at least 15 high-priority, locally-approved, state-sanctioned projects for future implementation.
The District plans to hire consultant Evan Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Environmental Associates to provide technical oversight and to design the project conceptual designs.