Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Natural Resources has released the newly approved Tactical Basin Plan for the Batten Kill, Walloomsac, and Hoosic Rivers and their tributaries, referred to as Basin 01. The Basin Plan actions will protect, maintain, and improve surface waters by managing the activities that result in surface water stressors, and address the attendant pollutants associated with them. These actions strategically target specific surface waters in those sub-basins where their implementation would achieve the greatest benefit to water quality and aquatic habitat as well as being the most cost effective. In general, the Batten Kill, Walloomsac, and Hoosic Rivers are targeted for protection and restoration strategies while various tributaries are targeted for additional water quality and aquatic habitat monitoring and assessment work.
This and all Tactical Basin Plans benefit from a concrete implementation table, or workplan. For this Tactical Basin Plan, ongoing efforts to build flood resiliency will be a featured priority to implement priority actions related to ongoing restoration efforts due to Tropical Storm Irene.
These projects will be undertaken by partnering with regional agencies, organizations and municipalities. Jim Henderson, Environmental Program Manager for the Bennington County Regional Commission emphasizes that “the Tactical Basin Plan for The Batten Kill, Walloomsac and Hoosic Rivers will become a critical component of all water quality related restoration and protection projects for the next five years.”
Copies of the draft plan may be obtained on-line at http://www.watershedmanagement.vt.gov/wqdhome.htm. PHOTO: The Batten Kill mainstem, a designated Outstanding Resource Water. Courtesy ANR