STATE COLLEGE – A restoration plan was developed to restore and stabilize 1000 feet of Wallace Run, an approved trout stream, located in Centre County. The target reach was identified by the Bald Eagle Watershed Association and the Centre County Conservation District as a top priority for restoration in their watershed assessment. The project spans land owned by two private landowners, and is part wooded and part mowed field. The stream had been actively meandering and eroding the banks, encroaching into the mowed field upstream, and eroding ever closer to a natural gas transmission line downstream. This erosional process also contributed to the degradation of the stream’s riparian buffer and fisheries potential. The restoration involved relocating the channel to a more stable configuration by utilizing a relic channel, building the new channel to the proper dimensions for optimal sediment transport, installing natural stream channel design structures (such as log vanes and rock straight vanes) to protect a nd stabilize the banks, and planting a riparian buffer to further protect the banks and provide habitat for migratory birds. During various phases of project implementation, the site was included in studies by the Penn State University’s Stream Restoration Workshop. Partners on this project included the US Fish and Wildlife Service Partners Program, Centre County Conservation District, Bald Eagle Watershed Association, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and Columbia Gas, each of which contributed towards project materials. Funding for engineering services and additional materials was provided through a Dominion Grant, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Grant, and a County Environment Initiative Growing Greener Grant. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided planning, design, and construction expertise, and the Wildlife for Everyone Endowment Foundation provided financial management services. Construction was completed in July, 2009.
The stream was partially relocated at the areas of encroachment, utilizing the point bar to return the actively meandering stream channel to a place that it occupied in the recent past. A bankfull bench was constructed at to fill the area between the steeply eroded bank and the newly excavated channel, bringing the new channel to the desired dimensions. Three rock straight vanes were constructed adjacent to each bankfull bench to gently direct the streamflow away from the bank and towards the center of the channel. The surface of the bankfull benches and other areas of disturbance were seeded with a mix of native grasses and mulched with hay. In places of higher susceptibility, coir mat was used to protect the plantings from erosive flows and other disturbances. Trees were also planted by the local conservation district and watershed association.
Over the entire project length, ten rock straight vanes were installed at the areas of highest erosion potential. Three log vanes were also installed in the stream bank at areas of lower erosion potential, in between the bankfull benches. The logs were anchored into the stream bank and the stream bed, and the area between the logs and bank were filled with gravel to act as a ramp, slowing down the stream flow and moving it away from the banks.
This project has multiple benefits: stabilizing the banks, reducing the erosion and subsequent encroachment of the stream onto private property and public utilities; significantly reducing sediment input; and improving the aquatic habitat by providing a more natural and healthy stream channel. The reduction of fine sediment in the stream makes it more conducive to fish reproduction; the rock and log vanes provide areas of habitat for many aquatic species. Significant improvement is anticipated in regards to the ecological functions of this portion of the stream.
The Wildlife For Everyone Endowment Foundation was established to provide permanent private support for wildlife habitat enhancement, wildlife research and education, land preservation, and for the establishment of a Wildlife Research and Education Center in State College. The Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit Foundation. More information about the Foundation’s projects can be found online.
