Our team at PWA has been working hard all summer towards our goals for the Broken Brook Project. This has included attending training sessions, installing an outflow chute, removing debris, and assessing 47 watercourse crossings. Click here to learn more about the Broken Brooks Project and the initiatives we undertook this summer.
What is the Broken Brooks Project?
The Broken Brooks Project began in 2014 with the goal of improving upstream habitat access for migratory fish species. The steps taken in order to meet our goal includes; locating and visiting watercourse crossings (i.e., any location where a road intersects a watercourse), assessing is the crossing is not a barrier, a partial barrier or a full barrier for the fish to migrate upstream, and remediating barrier culverts to improve ability for the fish to pass upstream.
In June, our staff attended a one-day training session with the Belleisle Watershed Coalition on culvert assessments. Which allowed us to get familiar with the Atlantic Canadian culvert Assessment Toolkit Water Crossing Datasheet. Consistency is the key to data collection and this training ensures that the same techniques are used across different watersheds in the province. This was a great way to introduce this type of work to our new staff members and to refresh older staff member’s memories on the process.
Photo of the PWA team and BWC training on June 20th, 2025
Outflow Chutes
Outflow chutes are metallic slide-like structures that are bolted onto the outflow invert of a culvert. This serves two purposes: It decreases the water velocity inside the culvert, is raises the water level inside the culvert, and it helps fish enter culverts with outflow drops of up to 25 centimeters. As each culvert is unique, whether that is due to its size or its material, causing this remediation tactic to required custom designs for each case.
This summer, we installed an outflow chute in a metal culvert linked with the Popple Intervale Brook and the Pollett River in Elgin, New Brunswick. The chute was masterfully crafted by the NBCC Moncton Welding class and helped recover 2.9 km of upstream habitat for migratory fish.
Photo of the outflow chute fully installed June 30th, 2025
Water Crossing assessments
To find these culverts in need of remediation we use a software called QGIS to map out watercourse crossings in our watershed. Watercourse crossings can include bridges, dams, culverts (metal, plastic or cement) and fording areas. After setting up a map of potential sites, we plan visits and assess the culverts using the Atlantic Canadian Culvert Assessment Toolkit, watercourse crossing datasheet. This gives us insight on the status of the watercourse, this data can be revisited for years to come to track changes. During these outings, we mark any crossings that have partial barriers or full barriers. We determine priority of remediation according to the status of the barrier and the amount of upstream habitat gain the remediation could bring. Crossings needing a debris removal are less time consuming, whereas culverts needing outflow chute installation can take months to plan and execute.
This summer, our crew has visited 46 watercourse crossings of all types.