The Department of Environmental Protection Tuesday announced an 11-member regional partnership begins its sixth stream restoration construction season in northcentral Pennsylvania on April 13 with a riparian buffer project in Lycoming County. The project is the first of 17 planned for this year.

The partners have completed about 70 projects improving water quality, increasing aquatic habitat, and reducing erosion and sedimentation along eight miles of agriculturally impaired streams. The efforts won them a Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence last year.

“The tremendously important work by this partnership has improved water quality in our local creek and streams as well as the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay,” DEP Northcentral Regional Director Marcus Kohl said. “It’s a terrific example of how these partnerships can make a real difference and benefit our environment at the local and regional level in real time.”

DEP’s Growing Greener grant program awarded $273,000 in January to the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy to complete the work over a two-year period. The conservancy administers the money while the other partners provide in-kind services in addition to a landowner match.

The Stream Restoration Project partners and waterways included this year are:

-- Fish and Boat Commission

-- Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy

-- Centre County Conservation District, Little Marsh Creek

-- Clinton County Conservation District, Fishing Creek

-- Columbia County Conservation District, Briar Creek, Roaring Creek, Fishing Creek

-- Lycoming County Conservation District, Carpenter’s Run

-- Montour County Conservation District, Limestone Run, Mauses Creek

-- Northumberland County Conservation District, Limestone Run, Little Shamokin Creek

-- Snyder County Conservation District, Middle Creek

-- Tioga County Conservation District, Canoe Camp Creek

-- Union County Conservation District, Turtle Creek

Plans for the 2015 construction season include installing 38,000 feet of fencing and 150 in-stream stabilization structures. Individual stream project lengths range from 300 to 2,500 feet.

“The partners involved in the stream restoration partnership are getting a lot of good, on-the-ground, conservation work done,” NPC Executive Director Renee Carey said. “We’ve learned a lot during the previous five construction seasons and are looking forward to learning more this season. It’s been great to see landowner interest grow, and improvements to the streams take place.”

The Lycoming County project along Carpenter’s Run will involve in-stream and riparian buffer work. The in-stream component includes multi-log vanes and modified cross-vanes being installed.

In the riparian buffer, additional funds from the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), as well as funds secured by the Lycoming County Conservation District, will be used to fence the livestock out of the stream and wetland.

A livestock water access will be installed to allow the dairy heifers continued, controlled access to water. Trees will be planted along the stream to further secure the stream banks and reduce soil erosion.

The partnership’s goal is to improve water quality on agriculturally impaired streams in DEP’s north-central region, which also will improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Eroding stream banks are a direct source of sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorus. The enriched sediment smothers aquatic life as it covers the stream’s substrate.

The partners use proven in-stream stabilization structures, such as log vanes and mudsills, and agricultural best management practices (BMPs), such as walkways and fencing. The in-stream work stabilizes eroded stream banks by redirecting the water to the center of the channel, and with other BMPs, stabilizes the stream corridor and provides the habitat necessary for long-term water quality improvements.

The BMPs help reduce the impacts of livestock on the streams by removing them from the stream channel and keeping them away from the streams’ riparian buffers. This allows vegetation to take hold, reducing direct nutrient inputs and physical pressure on the stream bank.

DEP and the partners prioritize projects, working from the headwaters downstream in watersheds that have been assessed and listed as impaired by DEP biologists, and where DEP and other partners have made previous investments.

As construction on new projects begins, DEP’s biologists will review previously assessed sites to measure recovery. Data was collected at some sites before construction began, documenting water quality and habitat conditions. Water temperature and the presence of aquatic insects help indicate the recovery of the stream.

The Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy is a land trust devoted to conserving the working lands and identifying waters of 12 northcentral Pennsylvania counties for the enjoyment and well-being of present and future generations.

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4/13/2015