WINDSOR — Vermont Agency of Natural Resources staff will discuss the department’s plan to remove a dam and its pond at the Windsor Grasslands Wildlife Management Area during a public meeting next week.
The 826.5-acre wildlife management area was formerly part of the Southeast State Correctional Facility property in Windsor, which closed in 2017. The wildlife management area was established the same year.
“The dam is currently classified as a SIGNIFICANT hazard potential, meaning failure or mis-operation of the dam will likely result in no probable loss of human life but is anticipated to cause some degree of property/economic damage, environmental damage, and disruption,” according to an Agency of Natural Resources informational page.
The meeting about the dam project to is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. on Nov 4 at the Windsor Welcome Center, located at 3 Railroad Ave.
The goal is to remove the dam late next summer, said Chris Bernier, a wildlife biologist with the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife, who oversees the management of the property. It will take three to four weeks to complete the removal once it begins.
According to an an assessment completed by the engineering firm DuBois and King in 2022, it will cost $159,000 to remove the dam, but Bernier cautioned that estimate will be refined, in accordance with current construction costs and as the design plan to remove the dam is finalized.
It will be funded by grants and state funds; the town of Windsor “will not bear any cost for this,” Bernier said.
The one-acre pond was created in 1925 to provide water for firefighting in the event of a fire at the prison complex, according to the agency.
The dam does not generate electricity. It was upgraded in 1950 and 1989, according to the DuBois and King assessment. It measures 18 feet tall and 160 feet long.
When the dam is removed, the pond will be restored to a stream, which is an unnamed tributary to Hubbard Brook.
People visit the property to hunt, hike and walk. In the winter, it is used by snowmobilers and cross-country skiers, according to the agency.
It is “renowned for birdwatching with over 100 species observed in the varied habitats,” according to a description of the area posted by the agency.
“In 2014, a modern water system was built to replace the antiquated and deteriorating pond fed fire suppression system, but the dam was not decommissioned at that time, and its condition has since continued to deteriorate,” according to the agency.
The dam was is “poor” condition from 2006 to 2022, according to reports provided by the agency.
In 2022, DuBois and King engineers identified numerous problems with the structure including a lack of capacity in the dam’s spillway and issues concerning structural integrity including cracked concrete.
In 2023, after flooding on the property, the dam’s status was downgraded to “unsatisfactory.”
To learn more about the project, visit vtfishandwildlife.com/public-meeting-windsor-prison-pond-dam-removal.
Those with questions can contact Chris Bernier, of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, at chris.bernier@vermont.gov or 802-777-0823.
