Vermont restoration group presents Colli Pond dam removal as a $1 million flood‑reduction and habitat restoration project

Karina Daley, restoration ecologist with the Vermont Natural Resources Council, told the Natural Resources & Energy committee that an engineered removal of the earthen Colli Pond dam in Shrewsbury would reconnect a headwater wetland, improve fish passage and reduce flood risk for nearby homes. Daley said preliminary engineering shows the removal would lower the 100‑year flood elevation for about 10 homes by roughly 2 feet and that the construction cost is “approximately a million dollars.”

Daley, who showed drone footage and before‑and‑after renderings, said the site is a headwater wetland that had been ‘‘suffocated full of water’’ by the pond. She said…