“Watching the transformation of a culvert is so gratifying,” shared Ted Sedell, OCNRCD’s Riparian Lands Program Manager. “Replacing this barrier with an appropriately sized culvert will improve water quality, restore natural stream function, and allow brook trout safe passage to the headwaters of this tributary.”

In the summer of 2025, OCNRCD worked with the Town of Westifled and other partners to replace an undersized culvert on a tributary to Taft Brook in Westfield. With funding from the Lake Champlain Basin Program, US Fish & Wildlife (USFWS), and the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department (VTFWD), the project involved removing a 4’ culvert pipe and replacing it with a 12’ arch on Corrow Brook Road.

In addition to being undersized, the old culvert was improperly graded and perched, creating an impassable barrier for migratory fish. The new culvert will re-establish connectivity for brook trout between populations, and the newly accessible upper tributary reaches will serve as thermal refugia during warmer summer months and large storm events. The culvert replacement will open 2.5 miles of habitat upstream.

Localized flooding was also a repeated problem at this site. The old culvert was grossly undersized, making it prone to over topping during flood events. Undersized culverts can impact water quality by generating significant erosion of sediment into our waterways.

VTFWD considered this project a top priority for aquatic connectivity. Their sampling data indicated that Taft Brook supports a high-quality brook trout population with abundance estimates averaging nearly 2,000 brook trout per mile and biomass estimates of 21.6 lbs. per acre. According to the Vermont Water Quality Standards, trout populations exceeding 1,000 trout per mile or 20 lbs. per acre are indicative of very good population levels. At this level, populations become candidates for reclassification to Class B(1) for Fishing Use, which provides additional habitat protection.

Only a few other streams in the Upper Missisquoi River watershed meet these criteria, all of which are located near Taft Brook. This culvert is one of eight priority culverts identified during field assessments on over 50 culverts by the Upper Missisquoi Aquatic Organism Passage Workgroup. Such limited distribution of high-quality brook trout populations highlights the importance of this effort to protect and further improve the resiliency of these stronghold populations. There are two additional culverts downstream of this project, and OCNRCD will continue to work with the USFWS and VTFWD to remove these other identified barriers to fish passage.