A River Runs It; Get With The Flow!

For many years I have been actively working with a local land trust to select and preserve significant properties with conservation easements. There are many challenges to good conservation work, not the lest of which is finding the resources to fund the transaction cost to protect the land.

Last evening I attended a session sponsored by the Connecticut River Joint Commission, whose job it is to study the Connecticut River, to hear the science behind river protection. The study of rivers is called Fluvial Geomorphology and by the end of the evening I had a new appreciation for the scientists that spend their lives studying the rivers. The fundamentals of river behavior and the general principles of fluvial geomorphology are sedimentation, hydraulics, restoration, fish habitat improvement, riparian grazing management, and streambank erosion. Problem solving techniques for watershed management, riparian assessment, fish habitat structure evaluation, stream restoration, non-point source pollution and the integration of ecosystem concepts into watershed management are the outcomes of this kind of serious study.

As you can well imagine, it turns out that water will make its own path regardless of how man has tried to train or confine it to new barriers. The ripple effect of changing the flow of water at one point works its way back to the point of original tampering. It has been estimated that over one third of the Connecticut River’s 85 mile stretch from Pittsburg, NH to Dalton, NH has been manipulated by man. In the 1800's, when logging was the primary industry, the river was straightened to prevent log jams. Water powered mills popped up to take advantage of no cost power. The railroads also played a part in moving the water’s course to reduce the cost of building bridges over meandering streams.

Slowly, over time, the river has worked to regain control over its original path. Seems we could all take a lesson from the fluvial geomorphologists. Let’s get with the flow and stop operating our lives from a place of fear, shake it up, let’s have some fun!