Landuse

E. coli Distribution in Relation to Land Use and Land Cover in the Mad River Watershed

The Mad River flows north for 21 miles from the Granville Wilderness area to the Winooski River. The Mad River watershed, with an area of 370.3 square kilometers, encompasses portions of the towns of Granville, Warren, Waitsfield, Fayston, Duxbury, and Moretown. Land use and land cover throughout the watershed is comprised of a mix of residential, agricultural, forest, and commercial uses. The southern end of the watershed is relatively undeveloped encompassing primarily forested lands. Extensive agricultural land is found below the Northfield Ridge on the eastern side of the valley from Warren through Waitsfield and along the valley bottom between Waitsfield and Moretown. The image above is looking south in the Mad River valley. Sugarbush is in the distance on the right.

For a larger map (279 Kb), click here.

Drainage areas on the western side of the Mad River valley (sites 1-7) represent primarily residential and commercial development and undeveloped forest. Agricultural areas within these drainage areas are primarily hobby farms. The drainage area represented by site 1 includes Mad River Glen Ski Resort, site 2 includes Sugarbush North Ski Resort, and site 3 includes Sugarbush South Ski Resort. Bradley Brook (site 4) and Lincoln Brook (site 5) are sparsely developed. Stetson Brook (site 6) and Austin Brook tributary (site 7), which are located in the Green Mountain National Forest, are undeveloped and forested. Study drainage areas on the eastern side of the valley (sites 8-15) include residential development and working farms. An unnamed tributary to the Mad River (site 8) drains a portion of Alpine Village, an older residential development. Freeman Brook (sites 9, 10, 13, 14) and Folsom Brook (sites 11, 12, 15) are adjacent to each other. These subwatersheds are comprised of a mix of agricultural, residential, and forested land use/cover although Folsom Brook has proportionately more agriculture.

As part of this study, the impact of Agricultural Land Cover and Residential Land Use on E. coli concentrations is assessed. Episodic Events illustrate activities which impact E. coli concentrations in streams.