West River Watershed Alliance (WRWA)

What's New

Basin Management Plan

Basin Legislative Report

WRWA 2004 Water Quality Monitoring Report

The West River Watershed Alliance (WRWA) is a Vermont non-for-profit corporation composed of individual citizens, representatives of civic and business organizations and governmental agencies with responsibilities for planning or managing the use of water and other natural resources.

The goals of the WRWA are to help protect, enhance, and raise awareness of the environmental, cultural, and economic health of the water, land, and communities of the West River watershed. Further goals of the WRWA include the Saxtons River, and Williams River watersheds.

A group of citizens and organizations, known as the West River Watershed Alliance Steering Committee, began meeting to develop community based watershed forums for the West River Watershed, in 1998 and 1999. The result of the public forums was an action plan that followed a holistic watershed approach to: define environmental, economic and educational issues; conduct scientific assessments and analysis; consider educational and public outreach programs; and promote community and government interaction to address issues. Many problems were identified throughout the watershed; others were only identified in one locale. The WRWA Steering Committe and area residents met regularly, in 2000 and 2001, to discuss action steps to address the top issues in each category. Four priority issues were identified: stream bank instability that precipitates erosion/sedimentation/buffer loss; better public access and parking; conflicts stemming from uses and needs of public versus private sectors; and education of watershed residents. Other issues of concern involve water quality and quantity: run-off from gravel roads; agricultural practices that degrade water quality; dam management; on-site septic systems; commercial water draw; development controls; and environmental impacts from tourism.

The Action Plan underscores the need for valid scientific assessment and analysis of these pressing environmental issues. Using appropriate and applicable technical expertise, the plan outlines data inventory projects and watershed assessments that would: inventory existing watershed studies and data; identify location of problem areas in the watershed; determine causes; and devise solutions based on new and existing data.

Another major component of the Action Plan is education. It is the prime intent of the WRWA to raise public awareness and understanding through: identifying organizations, agencies, commercial entities with interests in the watershed; targeting community groups and organizations for eductional efforts; designing educational programs and materials to key cover issues; developing Volunteer and Stewardship Programs to sustain educational effort; develop outreach programs targeting local officals and municipal officers; and running informational and publicity articles through local news meida.

For the WRWA to be sustained as a long-term organization, it is vital that it promotes community as well as government involvement at all levels in the programs mentioned above. WRWA works closely with federal, state and local agencies. The Windham Regional Commission, the Windham County Natural Resources Conservation District, the U.S. Forest Service in the Green Mountain National Forest, and the Vermont DEC are among its primary supporters. The WRWA Action Plan seeks to encourage active participation by the public and its partners by: identifying key stakeholders with strong interests in the watershed; holding all-inclusive community forums and workshops to outline issues and develop a cogent management plan; procuring funding and grants for programs and projects; establishing a community volunteer network to implement projects; and planning watershed/community activities.

Other planned projects in the Watershed Action Plan that address specific problems and issues identified within the West River Watershed include: local government educational program; the West River Stewards program implementation; physical geomorphic assessment of tributaries and main stem; development and implementation of a basin-wide, long-term, water quality monitoring program; GPS/GIS survey and mapping of major erosion sites; interpretive signage for the West River Trail; restoration of critical erosion sites; create public parking areas/groomed trails at public access points; continuation of the Salmon restoration and monitoring in the West River; state classification of streams in the West River Watershed; storage pond construction for water draws; and management plan for water releases at dams.

All the projects and activities under the Action Plan will culminate within a comprehensive basin-wide management plan that would address issues of the West River watershed and those of the Williams and Saxtons River to meet the State basin planning criteria for Basin 11 and satisfy EPA regulatory manadates.

Together, the West River , Saxtons River , and Williams River watersheds make up Basin 11. The WRWA is working in conjunction with the Windham Regional Commission ( http://www.rpc.windham.vt.us/ ) (WRC) and the Windham County Natural Resources Conservation District (http://vacd.org/wnrcd.html ) (WCNRCD) to develop a Basin 11 Management Plan.