{"id":37,"date":"2015-04-29T11:00:17","date_gmt":"2015-04-29T15:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/farmclim\/?p=37"},"modified":"2015-04-29T11:16:27","modified_gmt":"2015-04-29T15:16:27","slug":"moving-to-higher-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/farmclim\/2015\/04\/29\/moving-to-higher-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving to Higher Ground – Introduction to Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of the best soils for agriculture are alluvial deposits found on flood plains along rivers. \u00a0In Vermont, one of these rivers is the Winooski River which flows through Burlington into Lake Champlain. \u00a0Over recent years, as part of the upswing in the local food movement, many small farms have been attracted to the innovative farm incubator and food hub called the\u00a0Intervale Center<\/a>\u00a0in Burlington. \u00a0However, while its location in Burlington is prime for proximity to local food fans, its river-bank location on the WInooski leaves a number of the farms at risk to flooding.<\/p>\n

\"Winooski<\/a>

Sediment covering fields from receded floodwaters of the Winooski River outside Richmond, VT Photo credit: Lars Gange & Mansfield Heliflight<\/p><\/div>\n

Since 1970, the frequency of severe flood events has increased in Vermont with the amount of rainfall falling during very heavy\u00a0precipitation events<\/a>\u00a0up\u00a0by 67%. \u00a0Hurricane Irene damaged over \u00a09000 acres of Vermont’s farmland, causing economic losses of about $20 billion<\/a> with many farms losing all\u00a0of their crops. \u00a0See photos taken from helicopter of flood damage<\/a> along river corridors in Vermont.<\/p>\n

At the Intervale, a number of farms were willing to “stick it out” after one big flood event, but by the time, another extreme event hit the farm and destroyed crops, it was time to reconsider the farm’s location. \u00a0We have identified several farms and farmers who have recently made\u00a0the decisionto move to higher ground in Vermont.<\/p>\n