Athletic fields reverting to wetlands to improve lake water quality
Lewis Creek Association has nearly completed the conversion of a playing field behind the United Church of Hinesburg back to a wetland.
The restored area now includes native shrubs and trees that will support pollinators and other species, while also improving water quality.
Fields in Hinesburg after regrading and planting to be reclaimed as wetland. The bridge in the foreground will allow people to walk out into the wetland to view it.
The work was made possible by funds from Watersheds United Vermont and the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Clean Water Fund.
The water that flows through this area of the village of Hinesburg moves generally from east to west, draining into a ditch north of the United Church of Hinesburg and, after making two 90-degree turns, into the LaPlatte River. The LaPlatte drains into Lake Champlain at Shelburne Bay.
It picks up stormwater from several residential developments, businesses, churches and a portion of Route 116. This area of Hinesburg has been identified in two past studies as an important area for water quality improvement.
Historic channel straightening, ditching, berming, filling of wetlands and altered flow from stormwater runoff contribute to channel instability. The area behind the church was part of a larger wetland that had been converted to agriculture and then into playing fields.
Wetlands are critical to maintaining water quality, allowing water to be naturally cleaned by wetland plants before heading downstream. This fall, contractors K. Bellavance Landworks tilled the lawn under, regraded it to allow water to flow through the wetland in a more natural path, laid in rocks and logs across the depression to slow the water and planted native trees, shrubs and wetland seeds.
Next year, after the plants have fully established, the berm that is holding water in the existing ditch will be removed, allowing the wetland to accept and clean up water from upstream. Restoring the wetland will help to keep the LaPlatte River from becoming impaired by phosphorus, which contributes to harmful cyanobacteria blooms and fish die-offs in Lake Champlain.
The area’s proximity to town playing fields and the Hinesburg Town Hall in the center of the village will allow it to function as an Ahead of the Storm demonstration project, showcasing water quality issues and habitat improvement through restoration. You can learn more about the problem and what landowners can do to improve water quality in a brief 17-minute presentation on the Lewis Creek Association’s website at https://bit.ly/lca-wq-videos.
Things landowners can do to improve water quality include slowing water down, spreading it out and sinking it into the ground. These are the “the three S’s” that are central to the Ahead of the Storm program.
You can learn more about the Ahead of the Storm program at bit.ly/lca-aots.
(Kate Kelly is the Lewis Creek Association program manager.)