Culvert upgrade impacts, CT River Watershed

This dataset is a component of a complete package of products from the Connect the Connecticut project. Connect the Connecticut is a collaborative effort to identify shared priorities for conserving the Connecticut River Watershed for future generations, considering the value of fish and wildlife species and the natural ecosystems they inhabit. Click here to download the full data package, including all documentation.

This dataset represents opportunities to restore aquatic connectivity by upgrading culverts. Specifically, this product tabulates the results of a model in which each road-stream crossing is systematically upgraded (virtually) to a bridge having the minimum aquatic barrier score, one at a time, and the predicted improvement in aquatic connectedness from the upgrade is recorded. The delta, or difference, in the aquatic connectedness score, before and after the crossing upgrade for each cell within the affected neighborhood, is computed and multiplied by the average index of ecological integrity of the affected neighborhood. The weighting by IEIemphasizes the potential ecological benefits of a crossing upgrade in an area that is otherwise in good condition but depressed by the crossing structure. Conversely, the score is lower where conditions are already so degraded that an upgrade would not improve local ecosystem conditions.