Culvert Restoration Program
The Bad River watershed is the largest basin on the south shore of Lake Superior. Fish passage and sedimentation at road stream crossings have been identified as major concerns in the watershed. To address this concern, the Bad River Watershed Association (BRWA) initiated the Culvert Restoration Program in 2004 to conduct a watershed wide, quantitative road-stream crossing inventory and identify specific sites that are priorities for remediation. Now SRWA continues this project.
SRWA’s Culvert Restoration Program aims to:
- Educate citizens about the environmental and fiscal costs of improperly designed and/or installed culverts
- Identify and inventory all road/stream crossings
- Prioritize crossings in need of repair with respect to fish passage barriers and sedimentation
- Search for funding to help pay for new installations
In 2008, Superior Rivers (as the Bad River Watershed Association) published a Culvert Program Strategic Plan using a preliminary needs assessment from our culvert inventory data.
Site Selection
Two sets of criteria are used to judge which sites become prioritized. One measures stream habitat, the other measures the road-stream crossing condition. Culverts are prioritized according to the quality and quantity of habitat that their remediation can provide. Other factors that determine which sites are selected include the condition of the pipe, erosion around the pipe, sedimentation and flooding or road wash out. Generally the culverts that have the most priority in replacement are those that are closest to Lake Superior and house a migratory fish population. Another consideration that plays a key role is how much stream the replacement opens up. If a culvert is the only culvert on a 2 mile stretch and is an inadequate fish passage, by replacing it you open up 2 more miles that had not been available previously. However, if another culvert is just down the stream by a ¼ mile then it will not open up nearly as much water. A few culverts are what is termed “first impassable barriers” meaning that is the first spot in the river that migrating fish cannot get past. Culverts of this nature also receive priority because any culvert beyond this culvert will not benefit fish migration without first replacing the “first impassable barrier”. Site selection is a process that is carried out to efficiently utilize resources in our watershed. This means coordinating with local, county, state and even federal agencies to see that SRWA dollars are spent on culverts that would not have already been fixed by one of these agencies. After a list of priority sites is assembled by SRWA, stakeholders decide annually which sites will be funded for remediation. The same basic sets of criteria are used in these decisions. Although certain grants such as the USFWS coastal program can only be allocated towards opening or improving sites that connect directly with Lake Superior. Certain sites may also be priorities on the agendas of other agencies. For more information on the Culvert Restoration Program please contact Kevin Brewster, Watershed Restoration Manager, at 715-682-2003 or info@superiorrivers.org