Federal funding is moving along the replacement of three culverts in the Piscataquis watershed that have been impacted by heavy rains and flooding from climate change.
The Nature Conservancy Maine Chapter is working on designs for new culverts over the Piscataquis River in Atkinson, Brownville and the Katahdin region.
Christian Fox, Watershed Restoration Specialist, says using "Stream Smart" structures will be safer for people and improve fish and wildlife passage.
"They support the full ecological function of a river and they're also resilient in face of climate change. They pass these larger flashier hydrologic flows. The road doesn't blow out, the river goes under it, and there's this massive cost savings to the town or private landowner because they don't have to go out and keep redoing it," Fox said.
More than six hundred thousand dollars of funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will cover the construction costs of the projects, part of a larger federal effort that included the removal of the Guilford Dam removal and floodplain restoration.
