Stream Management Guides
Guide de mise en valeur riveraine
This comprehensive guide (in French but available in English from OBVBM) describes a variety of ways in which landowners can observe their own property, assess it for issues, and implement strategies to ameliorate the effects of development on streams and rivers. Well laid out and comprehensive, this guide is effective and practical for both practitioners and landowners.
Bande Riveraine
QuébecVert, formerly FIHOQ (Interdisciplinary Federation of Ornamental Horticulture in Quebec), has the mission of representing and promoting the ornamental, environmental and food horticulture sector and promoting its growth with a view to sustainable development. Bande Riveraine has many tools to creating effective riparian buffers. In particular their ‘Guide de bonnes pratiques: Aménagement et techniques de restauration des bandes riveraines’ is particularly useful for landowners along streams and rivers. French only on the website.
Shoreline Stabilization Handbook
Published by the Lake Champlain SeaGrant program, this handbook deals primarily with lakeshore erosion and stabilization. It presents various stabilization techniques, such as bioengineering practices like live staking and erosion control logs, in simple-to-understand terms. These practices can be used along stream banks to counter erosion and promote stability.
Living in Harmony with Streams
Published by the Friends of the Winooski River, this guide is an effective resource for property owners in understanding stream function, as well as understanding broader restoration techniques.
Stormwater management resources
Vermont Guide to Stormwater for Homeowners and Small Businesses
This guide can help Stream Wise Property owners identify and manage specific practices to mitigate runoff from developed areas of their property. In particular, guidance on access paths or stairs may prove especially valuable.
Road Management
New York State’s Rural Roads Active Management Program (RRAMP) and Vermont’s Better Roads Manual are two resources that can be used to aid in the design of access paths through the riparian buffer to the stream or river to minimize hydrologic connection using a variety of techniques.
Vermont DEC Lake Wise
Similar to Stream Wise, Lake Wise has assembled a variety of technical assistance worksheets for management practices that may help manage runoff from developed surfaces on Stream Wise properties.
Vermont Rain Garden Manual
This Vermont-based manual gives property-owner friendly details on how to design and build simple, small rain gardens around residential development. This guide would be particularly useful in abating runoff point sources or concentrated flows from entering the riparian buffer, or mitigating development within the buffer.
Fiches sur l’aménagement et l’entretien des propriétés résidentielles
Guide to water-friendly practices in French, covering BMPs for stormwater as well as good septic system design, low-mow practices, and general water quality issues for homeowners.
La conceptions des jardins de pluie
Step-by-step manual for rain garden design from placement to sizing and species selection.
Other guides
Creating a Riparian Buffer – Tree Planting
Simple one-page guide from the Lake Champlain Committee on planting a riparian buffer.
OBVBM – Various Documents
OBVBM has created several documents over the years which could be of help to property owners, in particular the Protecting shorelines, floodplains, and wetlands document, the Shorelines and Health – Public Awareness Sign, the Waterline Property Owner’s Guide which outlines good stewardship for owners along lakes and streams, and the Biomechanical Stabilization Fact Sheet which outlines practical measures that can be taken to stabilize stream banks.
DIY Water Quality
The Fund for Lake George created this how-to manual to protect water resources, including information on stream buffers, shoreline buffers, rain gardens, minimizing lawns, native plant species index, and site planning.
Invasive species can be very difficult and even dangerous to remove, often requiring repeated and prolonged removal techniques, including mechanical/physical, suppression, and herbicide injection, depending on the type of species and the extent of the spread. Technical and professional assistance may be necessary. The following are regional resources for invasive species:
Native plant species
Native plant identification can serve as indicators of soil type, soil moisture, and natural plant communities.
DIY Technical Assistance
The following resources from across the Lake Champlain region provide easy access to a variety of useful practices related to stream health. Use the categories to find the areas where you can to protect and improve your waterway.
Advisory Committee: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, New York State Adirondack Park Agency, The Vermont Nature Conservancy
2023 Community Partners: Ausable River Association, Franklin County Natural Resource Conservation District, Franklin Watershed Committee, Friends of the Winooski River Inc., Lake Champlain Committee, Lamoille County Conservation District, Missisquoi River Basin Association, Organisme de basin versant de la baie Missiquoi, Paul Smith’s College Adirondack Watershed Institute
Stream Wise is a project of Lake Champlain Basin Program and NEIWPCC