The Wrack

Bridges and culverts located along coastal roads are increasingly vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal flooding. Two interns collected data on vulnerable crossing structures to help ensure the sustainability of coastal habitat and communities.

Back in July, Wells Reserve staff and interns teamed up with volunteers from the Sebago Chapter of Trout Unlimited and bravely struck out on an ambitious survey of road-stream crossings in the Kennebunk River, Merriland River, and Branch Brook. The teams worked hard and surveyed an amazing 81 road-stream crossings in only three days!

I led one of the survey teams and let me tell you, that data was hard-earned! Once we had located a crossing, we had to battle thick brush, mud, poison ivy and steep slopes of riprap to reach the stream. To measure the length of a crossing, we sometimes had to crawl through a culvert from one end to the other, dodging spider webs along the way. Besides being a fun excuse to go crashing through woods and splashing through rivers, this survey was an important way to gather data that will be used by town planners, landowners, conservation groups, and other stakeholders to reconnect stream habitat in these watersheds.

About the Project

The Maine Road-Stream Crossing Survey determines where poor design or degraded condition of road culverts hampers the ability of fish to access upstream or downstream habitat. This information helps project partners to set priorities for restoring critical fish habitat sites.

For this project, Wells Reserve workers visited all road-stream culverts along the Kennebunk River, from its mouth on the border of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport to its far reaches in Lyman.

This summer, the Wells Reserve is an active participant in the Maine Road-Stream Crossing Survey: a joint project of the Maine Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Gulf of Maine Coastal Program. Four teams comprising of summer interns and Reserve employees are surveying the culverts of the Kennebunk River Watershed to see if they pose barriers to fish and wildlife passage.