During the fall of 2024, the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission’s (MVPC) Coastal Resource Coordinator, Hanna Mogensen, and Environmental Planner, Macklen Wier, completed a stream crossing barriers assessment training through the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC). Stream crossings occur where a stream and a roadway intersect, often marked by a structure called a culvert. Culverts allow water to flow beneath roads, railways, trails, or similar obstructions. These structures must be periodically inspected to assess their integrity and ensure they do not impair the stream’s natural flow. This training was as part of MVPC’s involvement in the Merrimack River DER Partnership Program led by the Merrimack River Watershed Council. Through completing online courses, assessments, and field training, Hanna and Macklen met all requirements to become certified as Lead Observers.  

As Lead Observers, the MVPC Environmental Team is well positioned to begin conducting assessments of tidal and non-tidal crossings in the Merrimack River Watershed. Through conducting field assessments, culverts as well as bridges and dams can be assessed for hydrological and ecological connectivity. This protocol is paired with an assessment of crossing structure and condition as well. 

The Environmental Team is excited to kick off field assessments in the spring of 2025, and welcomes interested municipalities to reach out if they would like to learn more about the process. In advance of data collection, the MVPC Environmental and GIS teams will be working to integrate data into MVPC’s GIS systems, such as MiMAP, to ensure information is accessible to municipal users on local platforms, as well as the NAACC database. 

If you would like to learn more about the DER Partnership Program, please follow this link to the official mass.gov website. If you would like to explore the NAACC’s database and see the work which has already been done, follow this link to the NAACC Data Center.