I believe it is tangentially related to the topic of created channels K-Bob. It must have been vital to stabilize the sediments behind the dam prior to removing it, considering the chain reaction which might have occurred downstream had they been released quickly. Absent the stabilization, the post-removal aggradation and degradation processes likely would have been severe and long-lasting.
The article posted by Troutbert is critical of the Rosgen "Natural Channel Design" concept and technique, which is no doubt the technique used at Birch Run. I have never been to the site, nor do I have any knowledge of the design. I am simply re-iterating the criticism of the original article, to wit: that the single thread, meandering channel restoration design paradigm is universally used as opposed to an alternative process-based design. This philosophical debate within the Geomorphological community has been going on for some decades now. Is it better to restore a stream towards some idealized reference condition, or to restore it based on the observed stream processes taking place at the site at the time?
I am more in line with the "process" camp, as I'm sure Troutbert is as well.
