Highlighted Stream Restoration Projects

The Chesapeake Bay Program is a partnership of people and organizations that have been working to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment, and other pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay watershed since 1983. The Chesapeake Bay watershed encompasses parts of Virginia, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., and West Virginia. The Opequon Creek watershed, in West Virginia's eastern panhandle, is the number one priority in the state's Chesapeake Bay cleanup effort.

MORE

Past grazing, agricultural, and timber practices destabilized the Knapps Creek watershed causing an accelerated mobilization of sediment that resulted in increased sediment yields, aggradation, and severe bank erosion over several miles of Knapps Creek, a major tributary to the Greenbrier River. The Upper Knapps Creek Watershed Association was granted funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for restoring long reaches of the stream using natural stream design techniques (NSD). CVI worked with NRCS, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Greenbrier Valley Conservation District and the Upper Knapps Creek Watershed Association in identifying willing landowners, assessing potential project sites, and prioritizing among the sites.

MORE

Approximately 4,400 linear feet of impaired stream along Blacks Run, Seibert Creek, and an unnamed tributary of Seibert Creek was restored using natural stream design techniques. The streams were highly impaired due to increased sediment load, stormwater runoff, and channelization. The project was a partnership between city government, local residents, community groups, state agencies, and non-profit groups. The Virginia Aquatic Resources Trust Fund provided funding for design and construction of the project.

MORE

Canaan Valley Institute (CVI) is developing a watershed-based plan (WBP) for the Mountwood Park Lake watershed, a 5.6 square mile watershed draining into a 41 acre reservoir. In 1998, the US Environmental Protection Agency completed a total maximum daily load analysis for siltation in the lake. The analysis concluded that the lake is filling with sediment at an estimated rate of 4 inches per year, impairing aquatic habitat and compromising recreational use. The WBP will serve as a guide for reducing sediment loads in Mountwood Park Lake.

MORE

Canaan Valley Institute developed a mitigation Residents of Lead Mine, West Virginia, were plagued by nine flood events during 2003.   In the face of stream instability and susceptibility to flooding, they formed the Horseshoe Run Watershed Association to seek help.  Canaan Valley Institute, in cooperation with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), conducted a stream and watershed assessment to identify reaches of Horseshoe Run where problems could be solved. CVI determined that a primary cause of stream instability was the heavy sediment load from streambank erosion and that sediment reduction in the upper watershed would help ensure success of restoration in the lower watershed.
MORE

Canaan Valley Institute developed a mitigation plan and performed all assessment, design, and construction oversight for a stream mitigation project located in Marion County, near the city of Fairmont, West Virginia. The project restored approximately 400 linear feet on an unnamed tributary of the Tygart River to compensate for impacts to a similar stream.

MORE

Canaan Valley Institute (CVI) was contracted by EarthMark WV Mitigation, LLC, a stream and wetland mitigation banking company within the state of West Virginia, to provide technical assistance in developing and implementing a mitigation project in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. An unnamed tributary of the Meadow River will be restored to compensate for impacts to a similar stream. The mitigation site was previously used for agricultural purposes and has been channelized, impounded, and heavily trampled by livestock.

MORE

Trace Fork, located in the Twelve Creek Watershed in Wayne County, WV, will be restored to compensate for impacts to a similar stream. Sections of the impaired channel were previously relocated and straightened, resulting in an incised stream with unstable streambanks. Canaan Valley Institute (CVI) was contracted by EarthMark WV Mitigation, LLC, a stream and wetland mitigation banking company working in the state of West Virginia, to provide technical assistance in developing and implementing the mitigation project.

MORE