Black River Action Team

CANCELLED due to pending potential wind tomorrow and low registration, as well as several of our volunteer helpers calling in sick. :-(

Will try to reschedule in June!

We hope to see you there this morning! Bring your phone or other internet-capable portable device, wear good walking shoes, and be ready for some roadside surveying of stormwater infrastructure! :-)

This is our opportunity to support our town road crews, our neighborhoods, and ourselves as we map and maintain ditches, drains, and culverts to help ensure they are operating at peak condition...and to track when there is damage or severe blockage.

Be part of the stormwater solution in YOUR neighborhood!

TODAY IS CULVERT CARE DAY! Activities start at 10 am at Fletcher Field this morning. In order to help reduce flooding risks in Cavendish, it’s important that there is a community/town partnership. With over 750 town culverts, spread over 39.7 miles, our small town crew can’t check every one each year, let alone clear out the ditches that feed into the culverts and drains.
Note: If a ditch or culvert is on your property, it is your responsibility to maintain them. The First Saturday in May- Green Up Day-and the last Saturday in September, are good times to check culverts, ditches and drains to reduce flooding risk.

A lovely waterfall on Route 5 in Weathersfield was intentionally trashed. This is a scenic spot that people actually stop to take photos of in all seasons, so the nearby landowner asked for help retrieving the office chair and small desk that were smashed at the bottom of the falls.

One grappling hook and ten minutes later, everything was removed and loaded into his truck for proper disposal.

Please...if you see someone illegally dumping or know about it, please report it. We are happy to clean up junk out of our waterways, but it would be SO much better if we didn't have to.

If you know of someone who has junk to get rid of but can't afford to, please reach out and let's try to help connect them with resources so the junk doesn't end up on the side of the road or dumped someplace it shouldn't be.

Kicking off Stormwater Awareness Week - Floodplains Are Our Friends

"Flooding in Vermont is not a problem to be fixed; it is a condition to be managed."

Rivers flood periodically, it is a natural part of their cycle. Rivers are always carrying two things: water AND sediment.

These two are in a constant state of dynamic equilibrium - when water is moving quickly and there is enough of it in a channel, it moves more sediment and larger particles (gravel, stones, boulders, etc.).

When a river reaches a flat open space, it can spread out, where it becomes shallower, slows down, and drops the larger particles that it can no longer carry.

These are floodplains.

A functioning floodplain can look 'ugly' to us, an area of land that gets full of rocks, mud, downed trees, branches, etc.

But that floodplain, functioning as Nature intended, is, in fact, a beautiful thing! It tells us that the river has a release valve, a place to spend some of its energy during a flood, which reduces the volume and velocity of water and STUFF moving downstream.

I'd much prefer to see the rocks, tree limbs, and mud spread out on an undeveloped floodplain than crashed into neighborhoods and bridges and grocery stores. In areas where we can move infrastructure out of a floodplain, and heavily plant the area with native shrubs and trees, it helps provide that natural pressure release area for the river.

"Flooding in Vermont is not a problem to be fixed; it is a condition to be managed."

Rivers flood periodically, it is a natural part of their cycle. Rivers are always carrying two things: water AND sediment.

These two are in a constant state of dynamic equilibrium - when water is moving quickly and there is enough of it in a channel, it moves more sediment and larger particles (gravel, stones, boulders, etc.).

When a river reaches a flat open space, it can spread out, where it becomes shallower, slows down, and drops the larger particles that it can no longer carry. These are floodplains.

A functioning floodplain can look 'ugly' to us, an area of land that gets full of rocks, mud, downed trees, branches, etc.

But that floodplain, functioning as Nature intended, is, in fact, a beautiful thing! It tells us that the river has a release valve, a place to spend some of its energy during a flood, which reduces the volume and velocity of water and STUFF moving downstream.

I'd much prefer to see the rocks, tree limbs, and mud spread out on an undeveloped floodplain than crashed into neighborhoods and bridges and grocery stores. In areas where we can move infrastructure out of a floodplain, and heavily plant the area with native shrubs and trees, it helps provide that natural pressure release area for the river.

With potentially stormy weather ahead, NOW is the time to be checking your neighborhood culverts, raking leaves from ditches, and learning how to use the stormwater survey tool developed by the Rural Rivers Project in partnership with Cavendish Connects and the Black River Action Team.

https://sites.dartmouth.edu/mappingforresilience/culvert-crawlers-training-material/

"No one thinks about culverts until one fails."

Those pipes under roads and driveways are intended to carry excess stormwater away from areas where it can cause trouble - but when a culvert is blocked, crushed, misaligned, or damaged, it can itself cause massive trouble.

Ludlow and Cavendish are among many Vermont communities that faced washed-out roads in recent storms - stranded residents, emergency service vehicles cut off from providing assistance, reduced property values, plus millions of dollars in repair and replacement costs.

"Culvert Crawlers" was born as a partnership between Black River Action Team, Cavendish Connects, and Dartmouth College in early 2024. We identified an opportunity for community members to help municipal road crews - through an online tool developed by the research team at Dartmouth College's Rural Rivers program.

Road crews can't get out and inspect every culvert and ditch on every road before and after every storm.

But we can.

Everyday folks like you and me can step out into our neighborhoods to survey the ditches, drains, and culverts on a semi-annual basis as well as before and after storms; our road foremen and town managers can use our information to prioritize their repair work and to maintain a working catalog of conditions as a town may need to apply for funding to replace a culvert that is a chronic problem or that continues to degrade.

Our goal with the Culvert Crawlers campaign is to provide a way for every community member to be part of the stormwater solution, around the state and beyond.

Culvert Crawlers is already aligned with Green Up Day every spring on the first Saturday in May; early fall is a prime opportunity for people to get a look at the stormwater infrastructure, clear simple blockages of leaves and branches, and document conditions before the snow flies.

September is Preparedness Month, and we are just beginning Stormwater Awareness Week; Cavendish has adopted the last Saturday of September as "Culvert Care Day," and we're holding a special ceremony this coming Saturday morning at the Fletcher Farm Field just at the Ludlow/Cavendish town line.

If you can make it on Saturday 9/26/26, please wear comfortable walking shoes and bring a smart phone or other internet-capable device like a tablet, so we can share the fabulous online tool created by the Dartmouth College Rural Rivers Program - we'll have a public ceremony and then demonstrate the tool; from there, we will have an opportunity to head out into the communities of Ludlow and Cavendish for anyone wishing to test drive the tool on "culverts in the wild"!

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.3878945,-72.6595936,523m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDkxNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

It’s that time of year again! The fruit trees around Hartford Town Hall and Lyman Point Park are ready for harvest, and the public is welcome to help themselves, thanks to the Upper Valley Apple Corps!

There are two apple trees by the playground at Lyman Point Park, with Cortland and Mac apples. In front of Town Hall, you’ll find two apple trees with Freedom and Liberty apples, along with two pear trees producing Luscious and Summer Sweet pears.

Enjoy the harvest!

Learn more about the Apple Corps: https://uvapplecorps.org/