Gabryel Gianoni has recently joined the MWA team as the new Watershed Project Coordinator. Over the past 7 years she has worked with several nonprofits and conservancies contributing to habitat restoration and conservation monitoring projects in Nevada and Pennsylvania. She has a bachelor’s degree in Biology with a focus in environmental science, ecology, and conservation.

James Ehlers can’t help but say something any time he passes the Winooski River’s Salmon Hole and sees kids splashing around or anglers eyeing fish. 

“Do you know what’s in that river?” Ehlers, a steadfast water activist who founded the nonprofit Lake Champlain International, sometimes yells to those he sees at the spot in downtown Winooski.

The torrent of water that ripped through Vermont in July left some towns in ruins and others unscathed. The disparity was due, in part, to differences in the amount of water that fell within the towns’ watersheds. But some municipalities took on large quantities of water and still escaped significant damage. Often that was because those with more resources, such as full-time staff, have woven together the complex web of funding and logistics that’s required for most flood resilience projects.