Our state has once again suffered from a massive storm that left a path of destruction all the way from Venezuela to Vermont. Communities across the northern part of our state experienced flash flooding events and dangerously high river levels. Our hearts go out to all who have lost family members and whose communities and livelihoods have been impacted by this severe storm.
Heavy rain from July 10th through the 11th, combined with rising waters in the Winooski River, resulted in major flooding in the intervale and across parts of Vermont. On July 11th, 2024, the Winooski River had risen to 20.48 feet, flooding significant parts of Intervale farms and trails. Extreme and erratic weather events brought on by the climate crisis – major hurricanes, floods, droughts, dangerous temperatures, late frosts – are becoming our new normal. We have seen farms struggle regardless of their geography and topography, with destruction and crop loss on hillsides as well as floodplains.
impact on intervale farms
For a second year in a row, Intervale farms experienced historically high floodwaters during peak growing season, and despite precautions taken to mitigate potential flood damage, losses are still high. Nearly all the Intervale farm fields were inundated, resulting in significant crop loss. Our farms need our support, and they need it now.
Though food is a basic need, farmers take on all the risks associated with farming by themselves. They steward our lands and grow food to nourish us as a public good. With each climate-related event it becomes clearer that building resiliency on all farms is essential. Our collective food security depends on it. A single yield-crushing frost can ruin an entire apple harvest, extended periods of rain can cause feed shortages for the livestock sector, and intense precipitation events can lead to flooding in the most productive floodplains.
As the Intervale community, we know how to respond to flooding. While we have strong climate resilience plans in place, we also need your help to get back on our feet. As the Intervale began to flood last week, we saw the power of our community. Hundreds of people mobilized, braving wet and muddy conditions to help their farmer neighbors harvest food before the floodwaters came. In the coming weeks, we will continue to call on our community to volunteer to help our farmers with flood clean-up. The people who grow our food and take care of our soil also need funds to pay bills, clean up, retain staff, and replant. We simply cannot ask them to assume the full risks of farming in a changing climate any longer. Please consider donating to the Intervale Farmer Recovery Fund. Finally, to be more resilient in the face of climate change, we need better support systems for our farmers, and we need it now. Please consider contacting your local and national representatives to tell them we need a climate emergency fund for farmers.
Impact on the Intervale Center
The Intervale Center has robust pre- and post-flood response plans that have been developed and refined over the years since Tropical Storm Irene hit in 2011. In advance of the recent flood, farmers, volunteers, and Intervale Center staff immediately implemented these plans.
We are grateful that the Intervale Center farmstead, office, food hub, and community event spaces are out of the floodplain and did not experience any flooding. Of the 360 acres the Intervale Centers owns and stewards in Burlington, roughly one-third of that land is farmed or used for community food production. While nearly all of that agricultural land was flooded, a significant portion of our agricultural complex (where our nursery packhouse, workshop, farmer office space, farm-based cold storage, wash stations, and many greenhouses are located) did not flood. None of the Intervale Center’s buildings, greenhouses, or equipment were damaged by the flooding.
All trails and associated signage in the floodplain flooded but emerged relatively unscathed and are ready for community use. Our nursery was not impacted like last year. The flood water was generally lower in the nursery fields, and we did not experience field-level ponding or post-flood rains at the same rate as last year.
We are testing fields for coliform and hydrocarbons, as Intervale farms are very committed to ensuring food safety for their members and customers. This testing also provides soil-related data for community gardeners and AALV New Farms for New Americans. We will know and share more as field assessments continue.
Unfortunately, we will lose a measure of gleaned food that would normally be harvested from Intervale farms throughout the summer. This food would have moved to folks in need who use our Fair Share program.
