On the anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene: the untold stories of what went right.

• Position: PROGRESS REPORT

"We have learned a lot over the last year about where recovery work in the wake of Tropical Storm Irene in Vermont went badly there were also places where smart decisions and investments meant reduced flood damage. Those places have a lot to teach us as we prepare for a climate with more rain and more violent storms."

--Lake Champlain Lakekeeper Louis Porter; visit: elf.org/irene

BACKGROUND

In late August of 2011, Tropical. Storm Irene struck Vermont, leaving significant damage across the state. The work done with excavators, bulldozers and trucks in Vermont rivers and streams, much of it unnecessary, badly done or far more extensive than necessary, added additional damage that may be far slower to heal, a problem Conservation Law Foundation has been active in pointing out and working to resolve.

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However, it also became apparent during CLFs study and work around Vermont that there was another side to the Irene story. Although nearly every town in Vermont had some damage from the storm, there were places where prudent decisions, made well before Irene struck, protected property and people from flood damage. CLF's Lake Champlain Lake-keeper, Louis Porter, and David Deen of the Connecticut River Watershed Council, along with other partners including the High Meadows Fund and former Gov. Howard Dean, made two short documentaries telling the tales of such spots.

THE RESULTS

The first film focused on the wetlands and floodplains along Otter Creek, areas that captured, slowed down and weakened flood waters in that part of the state, significantly reducing flood damage such as erosion, sediment loading and increased phosphorus pollution.

The second film highlighted the culvert on Jenny Coolidge Brook, near the headwaters of the West River high in the Green Mountain National Forest. That culvert, replaced as part of a U.S. Forest Service program to increase the size of stream crossings in the forest, stood virtually unharmed after flood waters had come and gone, while other structures were washed out causing road and environmental damage and requiring costly replacement. The films can be seen here: www.clf.org/irene

BENEFITS

The two short documentaries, potentially part of a longer series on such...