Sunday morning, after a Saturday night of rain, after a week of rain and with more rain in the forecast, I informed Wayne that we were holding off on breakfast in favor of touring Vernon's brooks. Did anyone even realize that we have a Vernon brook tour? I'd blame / credit Martin for this; but then I'd be getting off point.
Our first stop was where Town Brook flows through the village at Allison Ln. Scoping out both sides of the road, I realized that Vernon's investment in updating culverts was money well spent. This area of the neighborhood washed out a number of years ago during heavy rains; but oddly enough had not done so prior to that during Tropical Storm Irene. This morning there was a hearty water flow when typically this time of year the brook is dry here.
Our next brook is Newton where the fire pond is as high as I have seen. This is on Scott Rd on the southern end of Lily pond where the fire pond is. For the first time, I saw a small amount of water flowing from the pond underneath Scott Rd and into the typically dry streambed there.
The fire pond is fed from both the stream to the left and from the pond to the right.
I'm taking some space here to document this as there has been some discussion in town as to the headwaters of Newton brook and if an early dam on the southern end or an attempt to drain the pond altered the natural tributary and trajectory of the brook.
The stream to the left looking north from Scott Rd.
Directly across from the fire pond the culvert is emptying into a typically dry bed of Newton brook and continues behind the Morrison's place
Once again facing the pond, the small seasonal stream flows down the hill off of Scott Road, over a driveway and into the fire pond.
I'm almost done geeking out at this location. Here is the stream flowing along Scott Rd. I promise you that we will get to bigger flows later.
This is again Newton brook, but further south where it flows under Pond Rd. Newton brook is on the left and flood waters to the right.
Looking north from the Newton brook fire pond on 142
Newton brook on the East side of 142 near the Mass border
We headed north on 142 to Stebbins road and stopped on the way when we saw ducks swimming amongst the corn stalks in a field that typically floods in the spring. I wasn't quick enough to get their picture however.
We found Island Meadow brook bypassing the dam just before it flows under Stebbins road. The brook is brown with silt.
Town brook from the driveway at the mill and post office with 142 in the background.
The big beautiful culvert where Town brook flows under 142
We headed towards Cold brook where it meets the CT River below the dam. I had anticipated seeing the flood gates open at the dam; but not a one was. I saw
Gordon's video on the Vernon, VT Facebook group showing that this brook had given the resident's on West road a time of it this morning. We did drive up West road but couldn't see any flooding from the road. The drive did give me pause however when I considered what might happen if one day the multiple beaver dams on Cold brook were to give way releasing the water in large pond down the brook all at once.
Remember that meandering little brook Wayne and I walked in on the way to Miller's Cove to go fishing? I fell into Jacks Brook that Sunday when descending the bank and got quite banged up. Jacks brook looked more substantial this morning and had me thinking that an innertube ride might be fun!
Here is what I promised to you in the beginning. This is where we discovered (possibly) one reason why the indigenous people called the Broad brook, "Little River."
A clean water project has been in progress on Broad Brook Road with ditches being dug on the side opposite of the brook and culverts under the road to the brook.
One of two waterfalls. this is a first sighting for Wayne and I! We will pay better attention to the opposite side of the road from the brook this spring.
The second waterfall enters a culvert under the road and empties into the Broad brook.
The swimming hole under this side of the narrows has vanished under high waters!
My first surprise was seeing that the Vernon Hydro Station's flood gates were shut. My second surprise was seeing that the Broad Brook falls were consumed with flood waters giving the illusion of a significantly shorter drop.
It's really difficult for me to capture the power of waterfalls, I think this picture is as close as I could come.
We drove into Guilford and then took Franklin road back to 142. We stopped at Central Park Rd which is near the north end of Pond road to see the new culvert there. That beautiful culvert prevented flooding in what once was an area that routinely flooded into a field across the street.
On our way up Huckle Hill, we found that Town Brook had washed over Hickory Hollow road.
Unfortunately, this structure was on the receiving end of the flood.
Is seems unfathomable that in July of 2020, Vernon was suffering from a prolonged drought and Lily Pond was as low as I have ever seen it in our eighteen years here. Wayne reports that our neighbors in western Mass are nearing record rainfall for the month of July. With rain in tonight's forecast, we may see our brooks rise further still as our ground is already saturated.
When our brooks run brown, we are seeing the effects of soil erosion. Silt in our water is reason for concern not only for those who are losing valuable topsoil, but because silt is a form of water pollution that negatively impacts aquatic life. In addition to silt though not readily visible in my pictures are other forms of pollution washing off of roads and even lawns.
For the reasons I listed above, and for the preservation of infrastructure and even our homes, it is vital that we continue our progress in creating setback buffers from wetlands, that we reestablish native plants in our watersheds, recreate historical connections between surface waters and wetlands and yes, even in rural Vernon's landscape, that we limit our hardscape, indeed work to decrease our hardscapes in order to allow our natural areas to capture and filter water runoff.
Nature's vegetative wetland sponges have historically all too often been discarded in the name of development which is seen by some as "progress." With climate change creating more frequent extremes in weather, it's more important than ever to adjust our mindset about what true progress is. I'm all for better roads, better bridges, better culverts, better buildings; but if we can only bring ourselves replace the term "better" with "thoughtful," we may find ourselves with more options than driving down a straight road towards climate change.
Sometimes the big things seem all too big for people like us to contribute towards meaningful solutions. We've thrown up our hands and think what's the use? We point fingers at cities and other countries and chime, "What about them?". But I'm telling you that you can create real progress right here and right now! Choose something, (one thing) anything that you are passionate about with an eye towards mitigating greenhouse gases. Champion one body of water, one brook, a river, a vernal pool or if you are able, an entire watershed! Choose to prevent runoff and dust storms from lawns and fields by planting cover crops and replanting native plants, shrubs and trees. Look to our hills, peer into our valleys, examine your hearts, find something! Before it's too late -Norma Manning
Addendum:
I did not include two brooks in this blog of which Martin wrote about previously in
The Brooks of Vernon, they are Roaring Brook and Witch Gulch. Roaring Brook required a hike in soggy conditions and Witch Gulch was obstructed from view by plant growth.
Jeff Nugent just prior to this flooding event, ventured to Roaring Brook with fellow hikers and granted me permission to post his email describing their high falls on Roaring Brook adventure.
"Lead by the intrepid Bob Spencer, three of us adventured off in search of Roaring Brook Falls earlier this week. After a brief detour ("Um, Bob? I think we're in.... Massachusetts?"), numerous puddle bypasses, three harrowing stream crossings, a challenging descent into the gorge, and miles of forests that looked magical in the evening mist, we finally made it. Roaring Brook Falls in all its truly roaring glory! The ferns on the rocks near the base of the "middle" falls were actually waving in the turbulent air generated by the falls. The last time I was there was with much les flow in the late 90's. It was nice to return."
Photograph (middle) by Jeff Nugent
Photograph (upper) by Jeff Nugent
Further information:
That was a real education for me being a newbie here in Vernon. Marvelous pictures and narration. I was wondering where the flash floods would be coming from after getting the alert. Thank you for this blog.
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