At first glance it looks like disaster struck the North Branch of Mehoopany Creek.
Gone are the trees and rocks that once formed the edges of the stream, replaced with banks of bare dirt and stone for 1,300 feet. The stream, albeit a trickle in most spots, has still found a way to cut through the barren landscape, reaching into shadier spots below.
What is actually happening on the section of the creek isn’t disaster at all. In fact, the landscape represents a watershed that is being healed with the help of those who care.
Decades of erosion and flood plain encroachment have taken their toll on the creek, causing an increase in flood incidents that jeopardized homes and erased valuable trout habitat. In response, some property owners along the creek made earthen levees to prevent the floodwater from covering their land, but it just made the problem worse.
The end result was the potential loss of a valuable trout stream, and it forced the members of the Mehoopany Creek Watershed Association into action.
“We just want to bring our stream back to where it was,” said Rusty Bennett, vice president of the association.
But they would need help and money.
An effort that lasted six years finally culminated in a $528,000 Growing Greener grant from the state. The creek was assessed by Skelly and Loy Inc., and the project was put out for bids.
What they found was alarming.
“Last year’s flood deposited a huge amount of gravel here,” said Gerald Longenecker, vice president of environmental engineering for Skelly and Loy. “It basically created a block in the channel and they started losing trees and almost 80 feet of bank.
“The goal of this project is to stabilize these eroding areas and recreate a natural system here.”
Last year, the association accepted a bid from the Aquatic Resources Restoration Company to restore 1,300 feet of the creek, work which was finished last October. This summer the company started an additional 1,300 feet, which they hope to have wrapped up by September.
The work includes re-establishing flood plains and installing rock vanes, constructed with boulders weighing two to six tons each, to direct the energy of the water to the middle of the stream channel. That way, according to Lee Irwin, principle of Aquatic Resources, the water will scour in the middle of the stream rather then erode the edges.
“The rock vanes maintain the stream and pools for fish habitat,” Irwin said. “By directing the water to the center, it increases the turbulence in the center of the channel and scours a pool.”
Some of the pools are already 4 to 5 feet deep and a few trout can be seen scurrying under the boulders.
Bennett said the presence of fish even while the work is ongoing is evidence that the project is working.
“I haven’t seen minnows in this section for a few years, and now I’m seeing them all over,” he said. “The scour holes are keeping the water cool and oxygenated and protects the trout from predators.”
Once the rock vanes are in place and the flood plains graded, Irwin said they will seed the area with grasses to stabilize the soil. They will come back in October to plant trees, such as willow, along the banks to re-establish a riparian corridor to shade the creek.
“This stream has a lot of potential because it has good substrate, good water quality and it’s in an undeveloped area,” Irwin said. “We’ll get it back to its natural state and let it settle in.”
“The goal of this project is to stabilize these eroding areas and recreate a natural system here.”
Previously published in the Times Leader, August 5, 2007.
