Published: August 31, 2008 12:08 pm      

Brook gets makeover

Project restores stream to near-natural state

RUSH — A little more than a year ago, the stream flowing beside Ronnie and Stephanie Young’s home on Old Trace Creek Road was out of control.

Every heavy rainstorm would hurl torrents of water through its deeply eroded bed and tear away more of its banks.

Today, the stream meanders through a wide bottom, several yards away from its former course, flanked by thickets of wildflowers and willow shoots.

Even the hardest rain can’t wash out its bed. Instead, the water spreads over the bottom land and slowly filters downstream.

The change didn’t happen without a lot of work. Engineers and contractors with heavy equipment sculpted the landscape, modeling the repositioned stream closer to what nature originally crafted.

The Youngs showed off the restored stream Wednesday in hopes of interesting other property owners in the idea.

They weren’t on their own to do the work. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife administers a stream restoration project that actively seeks watercourses on private land to restore; money for the work comes from a stream mitigation fund, said Clark Allison, a coordinator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

At some time in the past, the Youngs’ stream had been dredged straight by a previous landowner, probably to free up more land for planting. When that happened, it destroyed the delicate system of checks and balances that keep a natural stream in check.

“People used to think, get the water off my property as quick as possible and onto someone else’s,” said Eric Dawalt, the engineer who designed the restoration.

As a result, farmers tended to dig what amounted to drainage ditches. Trouble is, not only are the ditches unsightly, they fight the natural tendency of flowing water to find its own way. Ultimately, nature wins the fight.

By the time they started the project, Stephanie Young said, the banks of the stream had cut so deep that they were higher than her head.

To restore the stream to its old bed, contractors brought in heavy equipment and shifted the grade of the terrain to redirect the flow. Using native materials, mostly found on or near the site, they created a new channel with features mimicking those in nature.

For instance, the stream now curves in gentle meanders. Rocks and stones are strewn along the channel and half-buried logs and tree limbs cross the water.

The features are aesthetically pleasing, but more important, they slow the flow of water, dissipate its energy and thus discourage erosion.

Some of the erosion-fighting features are more subtle. Tree stumps are planted at the outside of the curves; the stumps are dead but their spreading roots stabilize the bank where the strongest flow will be. Along the banks the contractors laid a net-like mat of coconut fiber, also stabilizing the ground. Native plants, including willow shoots, are placed along the bank. In another year the shoots will be recognizable as young willow trees and soon their roots will take over the job of halting erosion.

The matting and other temporary materials all are biodegradable. In five years or so the banks will appear natural and basically will be.

Plantings along the bank also create shade and therefore more inviting habitats for fish, insects and amphibians. The shade keeps the water cooler, and cooler water can hold more dissolved oxygen.

Some of the logs and rocks placed in and across the stream create deeper pools where animals will thrive.

Larger saplings, native grasses and plants are placed across the bottomland where the stream spreads during spring rains.

“We want the water to slow down and soak in instead of shoot down,” Dawalt said.

The project involved about 1,350 feet of stream and was entirely funded through mitigation money collected from mining, development or other construction activities that result in the permanent loss of streams or wetlands.

Roughly speaking, if a length of stream or expanse of wetlands is lost because of a construction project in one location, the mitigation money pays to replace it in another.

In return, the Youngs granted a permanent easement on both sides of the stream. The program requires 25 feet, but the Youngs granted 50 feet.

The easement requires the landowner to maintain the land in its natural state, which is what the Youngs wanted.

Restoring a stream brings benefits downstream as well, said retired farmer and Boyd County Conservation District board member Danny Blevins.

For instance, where a stream has been dredged straight to turn bottomland into pasture, farmers often allow their cattle to graze at or near the stream bank. Others may plant crops there.

That increases the potential for runoff of toxic materials from manure, fertilizers and other chemicals.

The easement also provides a wildlife corridor with cover and food supplies, Blevins said.

Already more deer, turkeys and other smaller animals are finding their way to the stream than before, Stephanie Young said.