Mimicking a dam, without the beavers

Boquet River Associaton proposes ‘strategic woody addition’ to Beaver Brook as low-cost, low-tech stream restoration that could serve as model for Adirondacks

By Zachary Matson

The Boquet River Association plans to install woody debris structures in Beaver Brook near Westport to mimic the natural work of beavers and stream dynamics as a restoration approach little used in the Adirondacks. 

The low-cost restoration strategy aims to improve the stream structure of narrow tributaries where the water channel has disconnected from its floodplain and succumbed to excessive erosion. By strategically positioning wood piles in the stream channel, water flows can slow and pool, enabling a lifting of the stream channel back to its floodplain and enhancement of aquatic habitat for fish and other species.  

Colin Powers, executive director of the river association, said he hopes the project can be a model to expand the use of more low-tech restoration techniques throughout the Boquet watershed and the entire Adirondack Park.

So-called low-tech process-based restoration (as in replicating natural processes) is widely used in other northeastern states and throughout the West, but it has been little used in the Adirondacks. Powers said the strategy is most suitable for wadeable streams you can leap across and that it complements the larger river restoration projects pioneered in the park by the Ausable Freshwater Center that target high-priority stretches of river that are prone to flooding.

“It’s critical that we are trying to create a path for others,” Powers said.   

The Adirondack Park Agency ruled the river association’s permit application completed on July 28 and opened the proposal for public comments through Aug. 21. 

Letting nature take over

The idea of the restoration approach is to offer a “subtle nudge” to restart the natural stream processes disrupted by human development, agriculture, logging and other environmental degradation. 

For the project located on a pair of private farms, the river association known as BRASS if permitted plans to organize volunteers and work with restoration experts to create a complex of the wood piles. BRASS in May organized volunteer native tree planting at the same section of Beaver Brook as an initial step toward the broader restoration. 

The woody debris is not meant as a permanent installation. But they are designed to help restore the stream to a more natural process, enabling the river to establish more woody pile-ups on its own, fostering habitat, floodplain connection and groundwater recharge. BRASS plans to monitor the site and add more woody debris as needed but eventually let nature take hold.

“Really the goal with all of these is ultimately to get the river to do the work for you and have beavers and other species move in and take over,” Powers said. 

Powers cited research that shows how woody additions can improve stream systems and increase fish size and population, highlighting the restoration is designed to enable fish passage. 

Should they require permits?

The proposal may have presented a novel project to APA staff, and Powers said he hopes to establish a streamlined process to enable similar projects in the future.

In documents submitted to APA, Powers argued that the project should not require the full permitting process expected of development or large-scale restoration projects that span the length of major rivers. He had hoped APA would determine the project was “non-jurisdictional,” but the agency is requiring a permit.

Borrowing from a board member, Powers called the project “undevelopment” and said the APA permitting documents are difficult to fill out for the kind of project BRASS is pursuing. Most of the questions in the permitting forms, Powers said, are intended for human development. 

“It’s almost impossible to force fit this peg into that square hole,” Powers said. 

Vermont’s environmental state agency has published guidelines for conducting these types of restoration projects and similar best practice manuals exist at the federal level. Powers said he hopes agencies with jurisdiction in the park can similarly outline protocols that nonprofits and others can then pursue without the time-consuming need for a permit.

“The whole idea of low-tech volunteer-led restoration is that you can move fast and at a low cost and cover a lot of ground,” Powers said. 

Photo at top: Volunteers planting trees along Beaver Brook which feeds the Boquet River, on Ananta Farm in Westport. Photo by Eric Teed