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City, Mass Audubon and consultants outline Broadmeadow Brook restoration to reduce flooding and restore habitat
Summary
Division of Ecological Restoration and consultants presented conceptual designs to reopen a decommissioned sewer causeway, remove invasive phragmites and add green infrastructure to slow stormwater and improve habitat at Broadmeadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary.
Kate Benson, a project lead with the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, and Alex Simpson of engineering firm Weston & Sampson presented conceptual designs June 16 to the Green Worcester Advisory Committee for restoring Broadmeadow Brook and the adjacent Broadmeadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary.
The proposal centers on removing sections of an elevated earthen berm that was built to carry a sewer force main and has constrained the brook into a straightened channel. The city decommissioned the force main in 2020; presenters said the berm and former causeway now prevent the brook from accessing its natural floodplain and limit the wetland's ability to store floodwater, settle sediment and process nutrients.
Restoration proponents said the site is a roughly 40-acre wetland complex with about 20 acres dominated by dense stands of invasive phragmites, which they said reduce habitat value and flood-storage capacity. Benson said the project team envisions removing or lowering parts of the berm so…
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