Water Quality
WISPr Funds
Woodstock is proud to be the first Vermont town to receive funds from the The Water Infrastructure Sponsorship Program (WISPr). On behalf of the Town and Village of
Woodstock, Sustainable Woodstock has been approved for $280,000 in WISPr funding to cover the cost of implementing natural resource projects throughout the Town and Village. Initial projects include preserving a parcel of riparian habitat adjacent to East End Park, stabilizing the bank along Barnard Brook near Billings Farm (in partnership with the Woodstock Resort Corporation and Billings Farm) and several projects to improve water quality in the Ottauquechee River and its tributaries. In 2019, Sustainable Woodstock initiated a long-term initiative to remove all of the remaining impediments to fish passage along Kedron Brook. Starting in early 2022, design work was initiated on this project in partnership with the Connecticut River Conservancy, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and the Woodstock Country Club. Other partners include the Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Commission and Woodstock Conservation Commission.
Barnard Brook Bank Restoration Project
Sustainable Woodstock’s Billings Community Garden is threatened by Barnard Brook; the bank is quickly eroding and encroaching on the garden, depositing sediment and nutrients into the brook. Sustainable Woodstock has been awarded a grant of $11,714 from the VT Agency of Natural Resources for the 30% Design of the Community Garden Bank Restoration Preliminary Design-Billings Site project. The 30% design was completed in July 2022, and we will submit an application for 100% design, so that we can then implement a bank restoration project.. We are very excited to begin this process to mitigate damage that dates back to Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.
Tropical Storm Irene Flood Relief
Following the devastating damage done by tropical storm Irene in August 2011, Sustainable Woodstock was proud to have stepped up to take on the task of administering the Woodstock Area Flood Relief Fund, coordinating both the solicitation of funds and the grant distribution process. Through the generosity of many hundreds of individuals and organizations both inside and outside the community, the fund raised $425,000 and provided significant flood recovery help to more than 125 families in Barnard, Bridgewater, Killington, Pomfret, Reading and Woodstock.
