Scientists Say Local Stream Restoration Working
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 04/11/2008 - 10:02am.
Editor’s note: This article was submitted by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for Lancaster Farming to use as a special feature.
SPRINGVILLE, Pa. — Near the end of March, Lancaster Farming photographer Stan Hall thought he saw trout stocking in progress here on Indian Run, northeast of Ephrata, Pa. As it turned out, it was Chesapeake Bay Foundation staff doing an annual “physical exam” on the stream, to check its health. The buckets contained not trout, but small aquatic insects that CBF staffers were collecting to see whether stream restoration efforts were succeeding in improving this trout stream.
CBF’s David Wise was part of the crew. He grew up playing in this section of Indian Run.
“I spent many summer days slopping in the creek at Springville, catching minnows and crayfish,” said Wise, Pennsylvania watershed restoration manager with CBF. “I went to school with some of the kids from these farms. I caught my first trout here, standing shoulder to shoulder on opening day with all the other kids. To come back now and work with the local landowners to improve the stream is a joy and a privilege.”
In 1999, eleven landowners on Indian Run between Stober’s dam (west of Schoeneck) and the mouth of the creek near Ephrata Hospital had livestock on pasture with full access to the creek. Over the next three years, six landowners agreed to work with CBF to fence livestock out of streams and plant forested buffers at limited or no cost to the landowners. Two landowners enrolled buffers in USDA’s CREP (see www.cbf.org/CREP for information) and are actually making a profit while protecting herd health and stream health.
CBF was not alone. This restoration can only happen with the good will and cooperation of landowners willing to take the risk of change. Ephrata High School’s FFA and other students helped with restoration and monitoring. As a learning experience, they grew containerized trees from seedlings to 4 feet tall, then planted them on restoration sites. They also braved the cold of March to help with monitoring — scrubbing the bugs off rocks with red-numb hands. The Ephrata FFA won a state award several years ago in a competition on current issues. Their topic was streambank fencing.
Ephrata Borough’s water treatment plant staff also assisted, providing staging areas for restoration materials. They are interested in improving the creek that supplies the town’s drinking water.
Stroud Water Research Center, near Avondale, does the analysis of the bug samples. Stroud Center (www.stroudcenter.org) has a staff of 12 Ph.D.’s studying how streams work, and how we can improve their ability to provide society with key services like clean drinking water, flood protection, waste water polishing, and overall recreation and quality of life benefits.
To understand the results of livestock exclusion and buffer restoration have, CBF is conducting long-term monitoring of Indian Run and Valley Creek which flows east into Cochranville, just over the Chester County line. Each year since 2000, CBF has collected information on water quality, channel cross-section and layout (to see if streams are improving and eroding their banks less rapidly), and the quality of stream habitat. Small organisms that live in the stream (aquatic insects and other invertebrates) directly reflect water quality over the entire year. Their types and numbers tell the relative health of streams. Larger numbers of insects that are intolerant of pollution indicate that streams are cleaner.
The monitoring site in Springville is just downstream of three adjoining buffer projects. Between 2000 and 2007, the number of pollution-intolerant organisms increased ten-fold, indicating a major improvement to stream health and water quality. During the same time, the monitoring station just below Stober’s dam showed a three-fold decrease in pollution-intolerant bugs, indicating that the upstream areas (not part of restoration work) are declining in quality. It appears that buffer restoration efforts are yielding improvements that actually more than make up for adverse changes upstream in the watershed.
On Valley Creek, a smaller stream, three dairy farms installed stream bank fencing and buffers. Only a few horses still have full access. In seven years since fencing and planting, the number of pollution-intolerant stream insects has increased three-fold.
Since 1997, CBF has helped more than 4,400 landowners install forested stream buffers on more than 2,000 miles of stream banks. Where needed, projects include stream bank fencing, stabilized crossings and alternative water supplies that keep both streams and livestock healthier. Indian Run and Valley Creek are being watched closely to see whether all this effort is succeeding.
The lead investigator, Dr. John Jackson of Stroud Water Research Center, summarizes the outcome of restoration on Indian Run and Valley Creek simply: “It’s working!”
Editor’s note: This article was submitted by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for Lancaster Farming to use as a special feature.
SPRINGVILLE, Pa. — Near the end of March, Lancaster Farming photographer Stan Hall thought he saw trout stocking in progress here on Indian Run, northeast of Ephrata, Pa. As it turned out, it was Chesapeake Bay Foundation staff doing an annual “physical exam” on the stream, to check its health. The buckets contained not trout, but small aquatic insects that CBF staffers were collecting to see whether stream restoration efforts were succeeding in improving this trout stream.
CBF’s David Wise was part of the crew. He grew up playing in this section of Indian Run.
“I spent many summer days slopping in the creek at Springville, catching minnows and crayfish,” said Wise, Pennsylvania watershed restoration manager with CBF. “I went to school with some of the kids from these farms. I caught my first trout here, standing shoulder to shoulder on opening day with all the other kids. To come back now and work with the local landowners to improve the stream is a joy and a privilege.”
In 1999, eleven landowners on Indian Run between Stober’s dam (west of Schoeneck) and the mouth of the creek near Ephrata Hospital had livestock on pasture with full access to the creek. Over the next three years, six landowners agreed to work with CBF to fence livestock out of streams and plant forested buffers at limited or no cost to the landowners. Two landowners enrolled buffers in USDA’s CREP (see www.cbf.org/CREP for information) and are actually making a profit while protecting herd health and stream health.
CBF was not alone. This restoration can only happen with the good will and cooperation of landowners willing to take the risk of change. Ephrata High School’s FFA and other students helped with restoration and monitoring. As a learning experience, they grew containerized trees from seedlings to 4 feet tall, then planted them on restoration sites. They also braved the cold of March to help with monitoring — scrubbing the bugs off rocks with red-numb hands. The Ephrata FFA won a state award several years ago in a competition on current issues. Their topic was streambank fencing.
Ephrata Borough’s water treatment plant staff also assisted, providing staging areas for restoration materials. They are interested in improving the creek that supplies the town’s drinking water.
Stroud Water Research Center, near Avondale, does the analysis of the bug samples. Stroud Center (www.stroudcenter.org) has a staff of 12 Ph.D.’s studying how streams work, and how we can improve their ability to provide society with key services like clean drinking water, flood protection, waste water polishing, and overall recreation and quality of life benefits.
To understand the results of livestock exclusion and buffer restoration have, CBF is conducting long-term monitoring of Indian Run and Valley Creek which flows east into Cochranville, just over the Chester County line. Each year since 2000, CBF has collected information on water quality, channel cross-section and layout (to see if streams are improving and eroding their banks less rapidly), and the quality of stream habitat. Small organisms that live in the stream (aquatic insects and other invertebrates) directly reflect water quality over the entire year. Their types and numbers tell the relative health of streams. Larger numbers of insects that are intolerant of pollution indicate that streams are cleaner.
The monitoring site in Springville is just downstream of three adjoining buffer projects. Between 2000 and 2007, the number of pollution-intolerant organisms increased ten-fold, indicating a major improvement to stream health and water quality. During the same time, the monitoring station just below Stober’s dam showed a three-fold decrease in pollution-intolerant bugs, indicating that the upstream areas (not part of restoration work) are declining in quality. It appears that buffer restoration efforts are yielding improvements that actually more than make up for adverse changes upstream in the watershed.
On Valley Creek, a smaller stream, three dairy farms installed stream bank fencing and buffers. Only a few horses still have full access. In seven years since fencing and planting, the number of pollution-intolerant stream insects has increased three-fold.
Since 1997, CBF has helped more than 4,400 landowners install forested stream buffers on more than 2,000 miles of stream banks. Where needed, projects include stream bank fencing, stabilized crossings and alternative water supplies that keep both streams and livestock healthier. Indian Run and Valley Creek are being watched closely to see whether all this effort is succeeding.
The lead investigator, Dr. John Jackson of Stroud Water Research Center, summarizes the outcome of restoration on Indian Run and Valley Creek simply: “It’s working!”
