Pedal and Paddle

The Friends is partnering with the Winooski Valley Park District and the City of Winooski on a new community event this summer: the Winooski Pedal and Paddle, a 7-mile combination biking and paddling event that's sure to be fun for individuals looking for a workout and families alike!

Registration fees are: $20 (ages 17 & up); $12 (ages 10 to 16); free under 10. After June 21st, rates increase to $30 (17 & up) and $22 (10-16). All proceeds go to protect and restore the Winooski River watershed.

 

VOLUNTEER AT THE EVENT: Many jobs are available on our signup page. Help with the biking portion, the paddling portion, or general event logisitics at the Homestead.

Read more about the Pedal and Paddle

The Friends are looking for a new Executive Director

Is working to protect water quality and habitat your passion?  Do you like working with multiple partners?  Do you enjoy the challenge of identifying and developing projects?  If you do and you have experience in the non-profit and natural resource field, consider applying to be the Friend’s new Executive Director.   

If you are interested, please send a cover letter and resume (as a single PDF) with compensation requirements to info@winooskiriver.org by August 15, 2017.  We anticipate interviewing candidates in late August to early September with a start date no later than mid-October.  Here is the job description.

 
 

Dog River Floodplain Restoration

Friends of the Winooski River has been a key partner to the Town of Northfield on the Dog River Floodplain Restoration and Water Street River Park Project.

In 2011, Tropical Storm Irene devastated the Water Street neighborhood of Northfield, which is adjacent to the Dog River between Norwich University and downtown. Nine of the fourteen buyouts that resulted were concentrated in one area of Water Street (the half-moon shaped area on the map above.) This area, now owned by the Town of Northfield, is slated to become the Water Street River Park.

The Friends used a grant from the State's Ecological Restoration Program to analyze how different alternatives for the floodplain restoration site and other areas, upstream and downstream, could help mitigate flooding in the neighborhood and further downstream. The Friends and the consulting firm, Milone & MacBroom, reviewed the analyses with Town officials and the State River Management Program to select the set of options that has the greatest impact. The final engineering designs are being completed this summer. 

Led by the Northfield Conservation Commission, the Friends and partners have also been running a newspaper series related to Irene recovery, river science, climate change, and the park, this summer in the Northfield news.

Support the Friends Today

The Friends of the Winooski River's mission is to safeguard and enhance the natural resources of the Winooski River watershed in order to create a healthy balance with its human communities. We pursue this mission through restoration projects, monitoring, partnerships, education and outreach.

Membership support is critical to our mission. We ask you to support our mission and programs through membership.

With member support, we achieved the following and more in 2016:

  • Planted 2250 trees and shrubs on five properties throughout the watershed;
  • Constructed two stormwater runoff reduction practices at the Cabot School;
  • Completed a floodplain restoration design in Northfield on the Dog River;
  • Created stormwater master plans for the Huntington town garage; the Smilie School in Bolton and for a neighborhood in Barre;
  • Worked with volunteers to collect water quality data at 36 sites throughout the watershed.

In 2017, we look forward to working on a number of challenges such as:

  • Working with landowners on riparian protection and restoration projects;
  • Constructing stormwater management practices in several towns;
  • Restore floodplain function along the Dog River in Northfield that will protect water quality and public and private infrastructure; and
  • Conducting education and outreach programs throughout the watershed.
 
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