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| 501(c)3 non-profit organization serving southeast New Hampshire |
January 15, 2016
With
great sadness we must report that the Great Bay Chapter of Trout Unlimited
(GBTU) is dropping the Thompson Brook Fish Passage Project after over 5 years
of effort. Unfortunately, despite GBTU’s raising $240,000 toward the
construction of a new road crossing over Thompson Brook at Winnicut Road in
Greenland, NH, we have fallen short of our goal of $292,000 plus a 10-15% cost
overrun contingency. The looming loss of significant funding due to grant term
deadlines has forced this decision.
The
project, which began in November of 2010, did successfully obtain enough grant
and volunteer support to study, monitor, survey, enhance stream habitat, design
a new road crossing and perform test borings at the proposed construction site,
however, the final push to raise the originally estimated $402,000 to build a
road crossing meeting NH DOT standards has fallen short. Despite the tireless
efforts of two NH DOT Bridge Design Division staff (to support the final bridge
design specifications and help reduce the final construction cost estimate down
to $292,000), the financial support of the NH DES administered Aquatic Resource
Mitigation Fund and NH Conservation Commission, the scientific personnel and
financial support of the New Hampshire Fish & Game Department and
Commission, and generous grants from numerous private sector foundations, the
project was unable to obtain the full financial support needed to continue. No
state highway maintenance funding was available to support the project.
It is
our sincere hope that the completed and approved plan set for a new Thompson
Brook road crossing, restoring fish passage to this coastal stream, can someday
be utilized by the state of New Hampshire. We regret that the funds raised by GBTU
will no longer be available to contribute to this eventual infrastructure
necessity.
GBTU
would like to recognize and thank David Scott, PE and Sue Guptill of the NH DOT
Bridge Design Division for their unwavering support and post design engineering
of this project. Our deepest gratitude goes to NH F&G biologists Ben
Nugent, Matt Carpenter, Cheri Patterson and NH F&G Fish Habitat Biologist
John Magee, for their generously provided expertise and on the ground support
of this project from the very beginning. We would also like to recognize the
critical support of Trout Unlimited’s New England Culvert Project Coordinator,
Colin Lawson, without whom this project would not have been undertaken. Lastly,
we would like to recognize and apologize to the late Joseph F. Conklin, whose
love of brook trout and passion to do the right thing for our cold-water
resources powered this project forward from the start. We are very sorry we could not realize your
dream Joe.
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| The Thompson Brook Culvert |
About the Project
The Thompson Brook
Fish Passage & Stream Enhancement Project in Greenland, NH
Executive Summary
New Hampshire state biologists and local anglers have long
known the sad truth about the state’s brook trout. Almost all native and wild populations in
southeastern NH have been wiped out by stream fragmentation, development, and
water pollution. But in 2009 state Fish
and Game biologists made an exciting and unexpected discovery in Greenland,
NH. They found wild young-of-the-year
Brook Trout in Thompson Brook, a lower tributary of the Winnicut River, which
empties into the Great Bay Estuary. With
the recent removal of the Winnicut head-of-tide dam, these rare book trout, as
well as other species including river herring and the American eel, could again
potentially pass between their historic fresh and salt water habitats. Only one obstacle now stands in their way:
the old, failing and impassable culvert under Winnicut Road.
Mobilized by the possibility of restoring the native brook
trout to its entire historic Great Bay estuary habitat, local citizens applied
for grants, lobbied the state, raised private funds, and waded in to perform
manual work in and along Thompson Brook to help reclaim it for the fish. These efforts have already raised and spent
$63,193.02, for permitting, monitoring in-stream improvements and design
planning for a new fishway under Winnicut Road, the centerpiece of the project.
So far, local citizens and organizations have also raised an additional $215,905.00 toward the $402,254.00 required to fund the project's completion.
Although much has been accomplished, a substantial financial
obstacle still stands in the way of removing and replacing the culvert hindering
the brook trout and other species. While
the NH State Department of Transportation (NHDOT) recognizes the need to
replace the culvert at Thomson Brook and has generously provided $49,700 worth
of in-kind site design work, the project falls relatively low on NHDOT’s priority
list. .
Nevertheless, the existing culvert at Thompson Brook is near
the end of its lifespan and is quickly becoming vulnerable to failure during
extreme weather events. Replacing it in
a timely fashion makes sense from a financial perspective as well as environmentally
because local citizens, private foundations and state agencies have already
made significant investment in the project. Time is of the essence, however, since
some of the matching grants will expire unless full funding of the Thompson
Brook fishway is soon achieved.
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| Young of the year brook trout (and some dace) found in Thompson Brook |
Origins
The Thompson Brook Fish Passage & Stream Enhancement
Project began with a meeting at the NH Fish & Game Region 3 Office in
Durham, NH in November of 2010. That meeting was prompted by a juxtaposition of
several events including the removal of the Winnicut River head-of-tide dam, NH
Fish & Game biologist’s finding of wild young of the year brook trout in
Thompson Brook, a lower tributary of the Winnicut River, and the completion of
watershed hydrology1 and road crossing surveys2 of the
Winnicut watershed. The meeting was attended by NH Fish & Game regional
biologists and Fisheries Habitat biologist, the Northeast Region Culvert
Project Coordinator of Trout Unlimited and members of the Great Bay Chapter of
Trout Unlimited. NH Fish & Game biologists recognized the rarity of wild
brook trout in the southeast region of NH, with almost all native and wild populations
extirpated by stream fragmentation, development and water quality issues. The
historical and current importance of the Winnicut River to diadromous fish
species including river herring, American eel, and sea lamprey, all species of
concern in the NH Wildlife Action Plan, was also recognized. Thompson Brook
offered a rare population of wild brook trout in a NH coastal stream close to
tidal water making the potential for development of a population of salters, or
brook trout exhibiting anadromous behavior as a survival option possible. Historical
records and current salter populations are common in coastal streams of Maine
and Massachusetts to the north and south, but currently have not been
documented in NH.
Thompson Brook was recognized as the top priority Winnicut
watershed culvert to be addressed for fish passage improvement by the “Assessment
of Road Crossings for Improving Migratory Fish Passage in the Winnicut River
Watershed”2, due to the 1.17 miles of stream to be reconnected and
its proximity to the head of tide only 0.52 miles downstream. Joseph F.
Conklin, a licensed NH Guide, avid cold water conservationist, frequent NH Fish
& Game volunteer and Great Bay Trout Unlimited member, advocated for the
project to reconnect Thompson Brook, convincing the Great Bay chapter to take
the lead. Mr. Conklin volunteered to assume the role of Project Manager.
Stream
Assessment, Design, Engineering & Permitting
Funding to proceed with stream assessment, monitoring,
design of a fish passage structure to replace the perched culvert, and wetlands
permitting, was sought and obtained in spring 2011 with a $14,700 TU-NOAA
grant. At the conclusion of the grant period in June 2012, a design and
engineering plan for fish passage, initial stream assessment of habitat, water
temperature, flow, fish surveys and obtaining of a wetlands permit was
completed at a total cost of $30,428.00. Included in the in-kind match for that
grant was 140 hours of volunteer service from Great Bay Trout Unlimited members
as well as a $4,988.00 cash match.
Stream assessment revealed the need for removal of an
inactive beaver dam in order to drain an impoundment causing negative impact on
stream water temperature, additionally, a habitat enhancement project was
proposed and completed using large wood to restore and enhance in-stream spawning
and rearing habitat.
Stream Habitat
Restoration & Monitoring
Based on the initial study, funding to support ongoing stream
monitoring and the stream habitat enhancements indicated, was sought. Two
habitat enhancement grants, a $5000.00 Embrace-a-Stream and $4,500.00 Trout
& Salmon Foundation, grants were successfully obtained in 2012. Under these
funding sources the beaver dam was removed and in-stream wood restoration
performed by volunteer work parties in the summer and fall of 2012. In
addition, a contract for a three year serial macro invertebrate survey (before
and after wood loading) was obtained with Dr. Donald Chandler, entomologist,
and additional water monitoring equipment procured. The final Embrace-a-Stream
grant initiative cost $16,598.22 which included a 176 volunteer hour in-kind match.
The Trout & Salmon grant initiative final total cost was $9,906.80 which
included an additional 20 volunteer hours of in-kind match.
Fish Passage
In addition to the funding efforts noted above, efforts to
seek funding for construction of the fish passage started in 2011. To date the project has raised $215,905.00 in cash or
cash commitments fish passage costs. NH DOT has committed to
an in-kind match totaling $49,700.00 in post design engineering, commitment to
on-site engineering oversight, traffic control and signage during the
construction process. The project’s initial funding strategy was to utilize
federal grant funding for up to 50% of the fish passage cost (usually requiring
a 1:1 match). Unfortunately,
that federal funding has not materialized and currently very few federal funding
options are available.
In order for the NH DOT Bridge Design Division to begin post
design engineering as part of NH DOT’s in-kind match, test borings of the construction
site were required. The borings were completed in March of 2013 at a cost to
the project of $8,260 ($2000 for Geotechnical Consultant, $6,262 to drill
borings).
Due to the time required to fund this road stream crossing
restoration, an estimated cost of $402,254.00, some of the grant awards already
gained are at risk of being lost due to expiration of grant timeframe
restrictions. The federally based (administered by NH DES) Aquatic Resource
Mitigation Grant of $9,000.00, awarded in 2012, has already been lost this past spring. Several other
grants from private foundations may be at risk as well.
Included in the cost of the project are road crossing
upgrades required by NH DOT to meet current code. Material costs alone for
these required upgrades (i.e. guard rail, signage, etc) will run between
$28,000- $30,000. As this project is considered a private one by NH DOT, to be bid
and carried out by Great Bay Trout Unlimited, the road crossing improvement
costs will be borne by the project, not the state. Winnicut Road is a state
road and the Thompson Brook crossing will be, post construction, owned by the
state of NH.
Conclusion
The Thompson Brook Fish Passage & Stream Habitat Enhancement
Project is a focused effort to reconnect, enhance and protect rare and
threatened fresh and saltwater fish resources for the state of NH. In the
process of accomplishing these tasks, significant infrastructure improvements
will result, which in turn increase public safety and improve the resiliency of
a NH coastal river to climate change. The project directly addresses the needs
of the NH Wildlife Action Plan, the Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan
of the, Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership ( National Estuaries Program),
as well as the Brook Trout Joint Venture, of which NH is a participating state.
Volunteer efforts put forth by the members of Trout Unlimited, the Great Bay
Chapter and the members of the community supporting the project, are greatly in
excess of the volunteer hours cited in the completed grants above and do not
include the countless hours of grant funding source searches, application
preparation, project planning, meetings, and the like.
To date the project team has completed $63,193.02 worth of
work (TU-NOAA, EAS, and T&S grants + test borings). It would be a
tremendous waste of over four years of dedicated and concerted volunteer effort
if this project did not move forward to completion due to funding shortfalls. Moreover,
the benefits to the community residents, as well as the natural resource, will
be lost.
On November 3, 2013, the Thompson Brook Project Manager,
Joseph F. Conklin, died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 51, only hours
after completing restoration work on another NH stream in the Conway area. All
of us who value our natural resources and the work he did deeply mourn his loss.
Those of us who work on the Thompson Brook Project, for which Joe was so
passionate, are more dedicated than ever to seeing this work completed to honor
his memory.
References:
1. Master
Thesis: Winnicut Watershed Assessment Project:
Assessing
Road Stream Crossing Vulnerability
Based on
Land-use Planning and Rising Stream Flows
` Due to
Climate Change
Prepared
by: Colin Lawson, M.S. Candidate
Resource
Management & Conservation Program
Antioch
University New England
December
2011
2. “Assessment
of Road Crossings for Improving Migratory Fish Passage in the Winnicut River
Watershed”, by Ray Konisky, Director of Marine Science and Conservation, The
Nature Conservancy, New Hampshire Chapter, Concord, NH
December 2009
December 2009
Joe Conklin Posthumously Receives NH F&G Commission's Highest Award of Excellence
Department’s mission through any variety of involvement. The award was presented by Strafford County Commissioner Robert Blake and accepted by Joe's sister Moira.
Great Bay Trout Unlimited congratulates the NH Fish & Game Commission on their award selection.
