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Friday,
May 04, 2012
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WRWA works with Highway Department in nitrogen
attenuation project.
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WRWA works with Highway Department in nitrogen
attenuation project. EverythingWestport.com Friday,
May 04, 2012 Click here to view the
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From the diverter pit,
Highway Department supervisor Chris Gonsalves with
the last tap of his trowel finished the brick masonry project and stepped
back to review his handiwork. With a nod from
Westport River Watershed alliance experts Advocacy Director Betsy White and Science
Director Roberta Carvalho, Gonsalves
checked height levels before he climbed out of the large concrete box. "That should do
it," he said. What Gonsalves and his highway crew have accomplished this
morning was to repair a water diverter meant to push storm water, collected
by road drains to the east of the Head of Westport, and direct it to a
reconstructed wetlands area built a few years ago behind Osprey Sea kayak Adventures'
building. The stormwater will flow into the u-shaped wetlands, and slowly
move through the vegetation giving nature time to reduce high nitrogen levels
and other contaminates before the water slowly filters it way down to the
Westport River.
Left: the reconstructed wetlands behind
Osprey Sea Kayak Adventures. Right: the Highway Department cleans
out the beehive that accumulates sediment from the stormwater
runoff that is diverted to the wetlands area. Rain water is a big
source of nitrogen, and ponds and wetlands like the one behind the kayak shop
can attenuate as much as 50% of the nitrogen content before it hits the
rivers, according to a recent Estuaries Study recently released by UMass
experts. Projects like this attenuation
effort and others in the works will help reduce nitrogen loading in the
Westport River. The diverter is so
constructed that all stormwater collected by the
drains will eventually end up in the wetlands. Only the most severest of rain
storms will overflow the diverter and dump directly into the East Branch of
the Westport River. "We really
haven't seen that happen except for Irene (tropical storm) and the 2010 spring
storms," Sisson said. "The diverter really works well. The original
boards used to partially block the main outflow culvert broke down over time,
so we replaced them with the more durable masonry." "Jack Sisson and
the Highway Department have been very helpful in projects like this,"
White said. "They did a great
job down at Cockeast pond and the Herring Run
reconstruction," Carvalho added. With a recent downturn
in financial donations, the watershed advocacy group and its staff members
have had to do more with less. "We couldn't do
this work with Jack's help," White said.
Above: From the left, WRWA Advocacy Director Betsy White and Science Director Roberta Carvalho along with Highway Surveyor Jack Sisson watch
Highway Department supervisor Chris Gonsalves rebuild
the diverter dam with concrete cinder blocks. The outflow pipe can be seen
just below Gonsalves head.
Left: a Highway Department
employee shovels collected stormwater sediment from
the diverter box into a frontend loader for disposal. Right:
the concrete lid is placed back onto the diverter box, finishing up the job. © 2012 Community Events of Westport. All rights
reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
