Watershed Restoration
Upper Greenbrier Watershed
Antietam Creek Watershed
Featured Project
Forest Road 794- Durbin, WV
The project
Location
Forest Road 794 is located just north of Durbin, West Virginia in the Upper Greenbrier Watershed. FR794 is an access road used primarily by hikers and trail riders, and provides access to rugged and lush mountain terrain. . FR794 is located relatively high in the Upper Greenbrier watershed and streams here offer coldwater refuges for Brook Trout during high temperature periods. The Upper Greenbrier contains some of the most contiguous Brook Trout populations remaining in the Central Appalachians.
The Problem
FR794 featured a number of stream crossings outfitted with undersized culverts. The size of the culverts led to an increased risk of large sediment dumps into downstream Brook Trout spawning habitat due to culvert blowouts. the culverts also impeded Brook Trout from reaching coldwater refuges upstream.
The solution
Thanks to a grant from the Appalachian Stewardship Foundation, Canaan Valley Institute partnered with the U.S. Forest Service to replace these undersized culverts with alternative crossings. These alternative crossings included drive-through dips, low water fords, and a large elliptical culvert. These changes reduced the risk of structure loss and led to decreased downstream sediment movement and an overall improvement in the local habitat.
