The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Lance Farrar is the town manager for Brownville. Sarah Haggerty is a conservation biologist at Maine Audubon.
Like the blood vessels in your body, Maine’s rivers and streams carry rainwater and snowmelt downstream to the sea. Yet across the state, thousands of undersized and aging road-stream crossings are quietly choking those arteries. If we are serious about climate resilience, public safety, and protecting Maine’s outdoor heritage, we must significantly increase funding for improved stream crossings that meet Stream Smart standards.
For decades, stream crossings — culverts or bridges — were installed with a narrow goal: move water under roads as cheaply and quickly as possible. The result is a patchwork of pipes that are too small or poorly installed — often perched above the stream like a waterfall. After heavy rains, small or improperly placed culverts plug with debris, washing out roads, threatening public safety, and costing towns hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs. For fish and wildlife, they function like dams, preventing upstream travel and cutting off access to critical habitat.
Maine Audubon and a host of federal, state, and local partners created the Stream Smart program in 2011 to create a better stream crossing. Instead of squeezing streams through undersized pipes, Stream Smart promotes crossings that mimic the natural width and shape of a stream.
Stream Smart crossings allow water, debris, and wildlife to move freely, even during floods. The result is streams that don’t clog and roads that don’t wash out: better for brook trout and Atlantic salmon, and better for taxpayers.
The town of Brownville recently completed two Stream Smart crossings: the Front Street arch stream crossing and the Lakeview Road Alder Stream bridge crossing. Both crossings were previously undersized and vulnerable to washouts during heavy rain and seasonal flooding, causing unsafe travel conditions and recurring repair costs to Brownville. Stream Smart funding made it possible to replace these aging structures with modern, climate‑resilient designs that the Town could not have otherwise afforded.
The ecological benefits are just as important. Maine’s outdoor economy — fishing, paddling, wildlife watching — depends on healthy aquatic systems. Fragmented streams limit fish populations and reduce biodiversity. Maine is also the last true stronghold for wild brook trout, a species that thrives only in cold, connected waters. Stream Smart crossings protect trout by ensuring that their streams stay cold, stay flowing, and that their spawning grounds stay connected to other habitats.
But as roundly successful and beloved as the Stream Smart project is, towns need funding to help offset the costs of building larger, better crossings. While Stream Smart crossings save money and protect public safety over the lifetime of the structure, it can be difficult for municipalities to come up with the upfront costs when dealing with annual budgets. Maine Audubon, towns across Maine and many others are working hard in this 132nd Maine Legislature to find the necessary funding to help Stream Smart support for municipalities continue.
Funding goes a long way. State dollars can unlock grant funding and cost-sharing opportunities, expanding the program to towns across the state. Plus, crucially, we can either pay for Stream Smart crossings or pay to repair roads washed out by the bigger and more frequent storms we’re seeing today. We’ll need to pay for culverts one way or another, we may as well spend that money wisely.
As lawmakers debate funding priorities in Augusta, they should see Stream Smart as a cornerstone of Maine’s climate resilience strategy. Increased funding would accelerate the replacement of high-risk crossings, protect public safety, reduce future disaster costs, protect wildlife, and strengthen Maine communities.
