Whats gone terribly wrong with stream restoration

[caddisflyer]

Locally a "restoration" was done on Brubaker Run in Lancaster County. This is a very small (now) stream that is actually a very degraded limestoner. Besides creating the meandering thing they also seem to have planted all sorts of non native plants, I noticed small shrubs and flowers that were definitely just things from a garden center. Non native bush honeysuckle and other invasives also filled everything in. They cut all the nice willows that once shaded the creek and created nice deep pools. No trees were planted. So its a big flat baking meadow now, As for the restoration it has created a stream that is now less than a foot deep consistently throughout the entire project area. I saw a few dead crayfish and nothing else when I walked it one day. There was a big sign calling it Th Brubaker Run Restoration with names of the contractors who did it. The whole thing was done as they built a giant shopping center on the surrounding land. I call it a phony restoration.

 

[troutbert]

Locally a "restoration" was done on Brubaker Run in Lancaster County. This is a very small (now) stream that is actually a very degraded limestoner. Besides creating the meandering thing they also seem to have planted all sorts of non native plants, I noticed small shrubs and flowers that were definitely just things from a garden center. Non native bush honeysuckle and other invasives also filled everything in.

What they planted were almost certainly all native species. It's a standard rule with all such projects that only native species be planted.

Controlling invasive shrubs is a basic task that's needed for riparian areas in general. In Spring Creek Canyon, for example, there are lots of native trees, but most of the understory is invasive shrubs. And there also invasive trees, such as Norway Maple, European Black Alder, and Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus).

 

[caddisflyer]

What they planted were almost certainly all native species. It's a standard rule with all such projects that only native species be planted.

Controlling invasive shrubs is a basic task that's needed for riparian areas in general. In Spring Creek Canyon, for example, there are lots of native trees, but most of the understory is invasive shrubs. And there also invasive trees, such as Norway Maple, European Black Alder, and Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus).

I can tell you with certainty they are not native. To be fair one other detail is there is a Burger King and many other busnesses within 20 yds of the stream and some of what their landscape people did may be what I am seeing spill over into this lousy project.

 

[troutbert]

I can tell you with certainty they are not native. To be fair one other detail is there is a Burger King and many other busnesses within 20 yds of the stream and some of what their landscape people did may be what I am seeing spill over into this lousy project.

What non-native species did they plant there?

 

[caddisflyer]

What non-native species did they plant there?

Certain kinds of grasses and flowers. I know they are not from our area. They are from a garden center which is also nearby. I think landscapers for the businesses that border the project did it and the stuff has spread all through the stream banks. From what I have observed no one manages these projects long term. They build them as required by some government overseer as part of an overall development plan, put up a big sign promoting themselves for being environmentally conscious and then no one checks back to see how things actually look a year later. This has happened here in Lancaster County on several big commercial development projects that border wetlands etc.

 

[lycoflyfisher]

Brubaker Run Floodplain Restoration named as Storm Water Solutions Magazine’s 2020 Top Projects - LandStudies

The Brubaker Run floodplain restoration at Lime Spring Square was recently named one of Storm Water Solutions Magazine’s 2020 Top Projects for its stormwater management implementation in a mixed-use development.

landstudies.com

There's a number of links at the bottom of the page with more info if you choose to read. I can all but assure you that no non native species were planted within the floodplain. The flowering plants seen are native wildflowers and forbes.

 

[Fish Sticks]

Brubaker Run Floodplain Restoration named as Storm Water Solutions Magazine’s 2020 Top Projects - LandStudies

The Brubaker Run floodplain restoration at Lime Spring Square was recently named one of Storm Water Solutions Magazine’s 2020 Top Projects for its stormwater management implementation in a mixed-use development.

landstudies.com

There's a number of links at the bottom of the page with more info if you choose to read. I can all but assure you that no non native species were planted within the floodplain. The flowering plants seen are native wildflowers and forbes.

Wish there was some wood recruitment in that flood plain it looks great but with no wood recruitment its going to be limited as far as the complex habitat that braided channels moving over time makes

 

[caddisflyer]

Wish there was some wood recruitment in that flood plain it looks great but with no wood recruitment its going to be limited as far as the complex habitat that braided channels moving over time makes

They destroyed the nice stream. It had willow trees and nice undercut banks. Plenty of chubs and minnows and sunfish. It is now very shallow and full of silt, all one depth. This article and their self congratulatory tone should tell you the real truth. This whole project is complete hokum.

 

[caddisflyer]

Brubaker Run Floodplain Restoration named as Storm Water Solutions Magazine’s 2020 Top Projects - LandStudies

The Brubaker Run floodplain restoration at Lime Spring Square was recently named one of Storm Water Solutions Magazine’s 2020 Top Projects for its stormwater management implementation in a mixed-use development.

landstudies.com

There's a number of links at the bottom of the page with more info if you choose to read. I can all but assure you that no non native species were planted within the floodplain. The flowering plants seen are native wildflowers and forbes.

I am going down there. I will send you some photos of the stuff. Guarantee its not native .

 

[troutbert]

I am going down there. I will send you some photos of the stuff. Guarantee its not native .

It would be interesting to see what they planted there, and what invasives came in, and what the stream looks like now.

There are several phone apps that identify plants. A popular one is https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

Locally a "restoration" was done on Brubaker Run in Lancaster County. This is a very small (now) stream that is actually a very degraded limestoner. Besides creating the meandering thing they also seem to have planted all sorts of non native plants, I noticed small shrubs and flowers that were definitely just things from a garden center. Non native bush honeysuckle and other invasives also filled everything in. They cut all the nice willows that once shaded the creek and created nice deep pools. No trees were planted. So its a big flat baking meadow now, As for the restoration it has created a stream that is now less than a foot deep consistently throughout the entire project area. I saw a few dead crayfish and nothing else when I walked it one day. There was a big sign calling it Th Brubaker Run Restoration with names of the contractors who did it. The whole thing was done as they built a giant shopping center on the surrounding land. I call it a phony restoration.

No trees = no trout.

 

[Hackle]

The Colerain fishing club on spruce creek throws Gabion baskets in the middle of a good hole that blow out and fill the creek bottom with stone to restrict flow, stupidest thing I've ever seen. Or the giant stone vanes that look like boat docks. But they have experts from psu recommending this stupidity. They refuse to remove invasive species of plants along stream bank so the plants re seed the rest of the stream banks down stream. Please stop the madness..

 

[hooker-of-men]

Trout Unlimited is out here asking for my Xmas tree... 🤷‍♂️

 

[springer1]

i will be helping to restore about half mile of a stream next year and a big part of that project will be planting trees to support the river banks from erosion. water will wash out everything, especially in a major flood event. water is one of the most powerful things on this planet. if you support the banks then your one step ahead of the game. take that with a grain of salt.

Bingo, nice going. Too many “nature park & trail projects” put the paths too close to the streams, and prevent encouraging new trees and setback which assists the stream banks.

 

[Roofin' Trouter]

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Trout Unlimited is out here asking for my Xmas tree... 🤷‍I

I dropped mine off at EB Clarion River Lake. They have a drop off at the lower launch by the dam. Anybody interested in doing so as well can do so. If you're interested and have questions call 8149652065. Drop off ends January 31.

 

[JeffP]

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Trout Unlimited is out here asking for my Xmas tree... 🤷‍♂️

These were the rage a while back. I remember a bunch on West Valley. We threw some around the Segloch in an early project. I'm not sure if it made much of a difference in the long run. Eventually, they got some experts in to do the work. For a while it seemed ok, but the last time I was there, it seemed like the stretch had seriously deteriorated.

 

[sixfootfenwick]

These were the rage a while back. I remember a bunch on West Valley. We threw some around the Segloch in an early project. I'm not sure if it made much of a difference in the long run. Eventually, they got some experts in to do the work. For a while it seemed ok, but the last time I was there, it seemed like the stretch had seriously deteriorated.

There are entire high banks and mountain sides eroding and sliding into the stream at Segloch. It's just the nature of the geology there.
Not much, if any stream restoration will have a profound long term affect on stopping it.

 

[Hackle]

View attachment 1641233813
Trout Unlimited is out here asking for my Xmas tree... 🤷‍♂️

Any time you can put trees, limbs or any large wood structure is a plus for the aquatic life and fish.. staking brush or brush piles along any stream will build stream banks if it is allowed to collect sediments from flood waters. I've done it on some small sections of streams in huntingdon county. Once it starts collecting sediments throw grass seed into the new deposits of soil. The grass will help collect more sediments from the next high water. I carry grass seed in my fishing vest to seed any new deposits of sediments along the stream after flooding in the spring and summer.. I now spend the money on native species of grasses which are not cheap. I could have a new flyrod for what I've spent buying native grass seed.. so yes, I'm a firm believer of large woody structure and brush piles along any stream.

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

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Trout Unlimited is out here asking for my Xmas tree... 🤷‍♂️

Not a fan of this kind of artificial structuring. In all streams where there is a good intact riparian buffer there are going to be some places where the stream course is going to erode banks. If it is pulling away gravel, is that such a bad thing? Flooding waters tend to erode these manmade structures over time. Time is better spent establishing better stream buffers with plantings IMHO.

 

[JeffP]

I tend to think that much of what we regard as unnatural erosion is either legacy sediment or the product of cutting down buffers.