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Watershed Planning River Corridor Plan: Lewis Creek M19 to M22, Starksboro Valley This 2006 River Corridor Plan aims to inform a collaborative, multi-landowner approach to restore the Lewis Creek corridor in Starksboro, Vermont. Healthy streams will also help clean up Lake Champlain and manifest a good quality of life and a strong economic base, which inevitably shrink as pollution and excessive eutrophication develop. Support for developing this plan has come from VT Agency of Natural Resources Water Quality Division and Federal Clean Water Act funds. This project received funding because it is one that aims to help reduce the amount of sediment and nutrients flowing to Lake Champlain by “restoring streams and stream corridors to maintain or re-establish a condition of fluvial geomorphic equilibrium”. The State’s River Management Section has learned from experience with major floods in Vermont during the last 30 years, and has shifted from working in the “major repair mode” to the “preventative mode”. In the case of rivers, managers now realize that working with the forces of nature succeeds in the long run in minimizing fluvial erosion, while contending against or neglecting the needs of the river system invites failure. Part of the new approach involves educating citizens to fully grasp that the “needs” of rivers extend into their corridors. To protect the overall functions of a stream requires taking heed of what happens in the surrounding floodplain. This management plan is a working document that will benefit from periodic updates. It is a Plan that covers one portion of Lewis Creek. Working with landowners, towns, and citizens further downstream will enable complementary corridor management plans for the remainder of the Lewis Creek, westward to Lake Champlain. With all Lewis Creek corridor plans in effect, Lewis Creek can regain a more balanced condition with adequate access to its floodplain, provide for sustainable farming and community development practices, and help to maintain the good health of Lake Champlain.
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