Lititz Run - Lancaster County (newspaper article)

[wgmiller]

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/235216

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

*claps* :-D

Good job to all on the effort. Still would have been nice to see land studies mentioned in the article. They no doubt helped the aquatic life and over health of the stream by restoring the natural flood plain in the upstream sections. Not to mention having all that silt removed.

This stream is on its way to becoming something special right here in Lancaster County. Lets all hope and work for the best!

 

[wgmiller]

While much work has been done on the Donegal through the years, I'd like to see it at the level Lititz Run is. Both, IMO, are special limestoners here in Lancaster County.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

That has been my big beef with Donegal TU. I believe that doengal creek could be better than Lititz Run and Could support more wild trout than Lititz.

Something needs to be done about the nitrate load in the headwaters of donegal. That is limiting the natural reproduction. Silt needs to be removed and more restoration needs to be done. I got laughed at by DTU members when i said donegal needs more work. I suppose they feel that Donegal is fully restored. This just isnt so. So many streambanks are caving into the water it isnt even funny.

Donegal is Lancaster's first and only fly fishing only stream. We should be taking better care of it. Keep in mind im not bashing either group. (DFCA or DTU). The DFCA has limited resources and do what they can. DTU has a lot of streams to care for, not just donegal creek. The work done on Lititz Run is amazing and we should all applaud it. Im just saying its a shame. I can remember when the 233 bridge had a hole under it that was about 5-8 feet deep with rock ledges. Today its filled in with silt completely. The lower end of the Fly area is way to dangerous to wade due to silt and is unattractive. No structure, no habitat and no fish. That is a large stretch from 233 downstream to the end of the fly area. That stretch of stream has been ignored and should be restored.

Donegal COULD be Lancaster's BEST trout stream, but it needs alot more work and alot more love.

 

[wgmiller]

I think it's also important to note that Lititz Run has gotten a lot of municipal support from Warwick Township specifically as well as Lititz Boro. Without government partners, accomplishing stream restoration and controlling impediments to the stream (like nitrate loading) becomes that much more difficult.

Donegal Creek starts and ends in East Donegal Township and from what I have seen and read, they really don't take an active role in the Donegal's existence. Were it not for the DFCA, it would probably be a real cesspool.

It's also facing issues like so many other streams are and that is water being robbed from its headwaters. I've heard Ken Depoe talk about how much water the creek had in it forty years ago. I wonder if in forty years from now fishing many of our local limestoners will be a memory?!?!?!

 

[crs5942]

I love fishing Lititz Run, but the stream improvement efforts have not fixed some of the major problems (erosion), only slowed their progression. You can't maintain an artificial system forever, and this is why I think Donegal Creek is failing. I would be willing to give up fishing as we know it on Lititz Run in exchange for complete restoration (LandStuides type) of the entire stream. There are a lot of people in the area that hold the watershed as a high priority. Given the conservation history and reputation of Lititz Run, I think it is only fitting to use it as the model watershed in a new age of floodplain restoration. Additionally, LandStuides would not have far to travel. I certainly hope that someday the large meadow at Lititz Run will be restored to lush, wetland thicket that protects the stream's multiple, cool and shallow channels. If the dam downstream of the C & R ever breaks, millions of dollars worth of "restoration" will be gone in a few short years. Maybe that will be the eureka moment when everyone looks at Lititz Run desmise and says "What idiots, we've been spending millions to maintain pseudo-floodplains all along!"