Portage Creek Streambank Restoration Project
In July of 2005 the Bucktail Watershed Association
was awarded a $16,800 grant from the National Fish and
Wildlife Foundation's Chesapeake Bay Small Watersheds
Grant Program to fix 350 feet of severely eroding
stream bank on the Sinnemahoning Portage Creek. As the
result of years of severe erosion, the stream was
overly wide at this point and there was little in
stream habitat. The site was located at the Noah horse
pasture, below the intersection of Old Portage Road
and SR 155.
Work began on the Portage Creek Stream Bank
Restoration Project in early July of 2006. Solveson's
Contracting of Emporium was awarded the bid to do the
earth moving and place the rock rip rap. A general
permit was secured from the state Department of
Environmental Protection before proceeding with the
work.
The eroding stream bank was regraded to a stable
angle and stone riprap placed on the lower slope of
the bank along 150 feet at the upstream end of the
project to protect existing trees that were growing on
the top of the bank.
On the bottom 200 feet of the project seven log vane
deflectors were installed to add instream habitat and
cover and redirect the stream's energy away from the
newly regraded stream bank during high flows. Cody
Andrus, Chad Schatz, and Ben Hause assisted with the
manpower on this project as part of their Senior
Project at Cameron County High School. They installed
the top two log deflectors, installed biodegradable
jute mat coconut fiber mesh on the newly regraded
bank, and hand placed rocks for shingling around where
the butt ends of the deflector logs tie into the
stream bank. At the end of July, eight BWA volunteers
also met on site for a work night, finishing the
installation of the log vane deflectors.
In June of 2007 repairs were done to the top three
log vane deflectors. Damage had occurred to these
deflectors during high water events in the winter. The
lower deflectors functioned perfectly during these
times of high water, causing significant deposition of
gravel against the formerly eroding bank.
In conjunction with the project, a 400-foot long
riparian buffer consisting of native tree species was
planted along the project reach. Tree tubes were
installed on the newly planted seedlings to protect
them from deer browsing. Three hundred willow and
dogwood cuttings were installed in the newly graded
stream bank as a form of soil bioengineering.
When the willow and dogwood cuttings and the tree
seedlings grow, they will form a network of roots that
will effectively stabilize the bank in a natural
manner. Additionally, as they grow in height their
canopy will shade the stream, lowering water
temperatures for trout and other coldwater species.
Leaf drop in the fall of the year will fuel the
stream's food chain with its organic content by
serving as food for mayfly and stonefly nymphs.
The Portage Creek Streambank Restoration Project has
been a huge success. The Bucktail Watershed
Association would like to thank everyone who was
involved in this project: our project partner—the
Cameron County Conservation District, landowner Bill
Noah, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation,
Reuben of Solveson's Contracting, Chad Schatz, Cody
Andrus, and Ben Hause, and all of the BWA volunteers
who helped out on the project.
If you know of a stream reach within the Driftwood
Branch of the Sinnemahoning Creek or First Fork of the
Sinnemahoning Creek Watersheds that is in need of
similar restoration work, contact the Bucktail
Watershed Association at bucktailwatershed@yahoo.com.
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