Davey Tree Flipbooks

4 | January/February 2015 I magine two very different water features. One cuts through neatly trimmed fields with harsh, steep embankments that drop straight to featureless flat water, while the second stream meanders through the same manicured fields. Its riparian floodplain slopes gently down over a broad area of colorful, native grasses and woody vegetation to meet rock-enhanced stream banks. Both streams are actually one and the same. The stream restoration ecologists at Davey Resource Group (DRG) transformed a severely eroded Ward Creek into the attractive waterway now winding through Lost Nation Golf Course in Willoughby, Ohio. Planning started in March 2013. The Chagrin River Watershed Partners, Inc. (CRWP), a non-profit technical organization comprising 36 members from the Chagrin River watershed, secured grant money from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. At the golf course, CRWP's goal was to return 1,450 linear feet of stream and riparian corridor within the course to a more natural state by minimizing stream bank erosion, enhancing nutrient filtering and providing wildlife habitat in the Newell/Ward Creek corridor, which is a tributary of the Chagrin River that flows into Lake Erie about 20 miles east of Cleveland. PROJECT HURDLES. "One of the hurdles we faced is the fact it's an active 18-hole golf course," says Ken Christensen, senior biologist for DRG. "We worked on five holes, so we were right in the play area on the back nine. Maintaining play on the course was important to golf course managers and patrons." Access to the site also proved challenging. "We made our own access roads and repaired and worked our way out as we finished a hole," Christensen says. "We weren't spread out all over the golf course, and impact to play and the turf was very minimal." PLANNING & CONSTRUCTION. The restoration plan targeted only in-play areas of the stream as it crossed fairways, but the restoration team studied the entire sub- watershed to develop the restoration plan. Davey identified wetlands found in the riparian corridor between fairways and adjacent to the restoration areas so that these areas could either be avoided or enhanced by construction, which started with removal of the topsoil that was stockpiled on-site. Excavation of excess soil in the flood plain improved the grade and provided a slight increase in on-site storm water retention. Once major excavation finished, seeding and cover was put down quickly to avoid leaving soil exposed overnight due to concerns about potential flooding from rain and snow storms. Before winter set in, Davey's team had restored 1,450 linear feet of stream, 2.2 acres of riparian corridor with deep rooted, native grasses and 0.8 acres of riparian corridor with native woody shrub and tree species. RESTORATION BENEFITS. Keely Davidson-Bennett, project manager for CRWP, says stream bank stability has vastly improved since construction ended. "As the native vegetation establishes, we expect that the restoration work will provide greater aesthetic improvement for the golf course," she says. "Furthermore, as the vegeta- tion establishes, especially woody vegetation, the stream banks will become more stable." Restoring the floodplains with native vegetation by removing turf grass is another benefit. The native plants installed have extensive root systems which will maintain the riparian area and help stop further erosion. And, as Greg Hill, golf course superintendent at Lost Nation, says, the more natural riparian areas led to less maintenance for the golf course—a savings in labor costs and equipment wear-and-tear. Davey will complete a post-construction habitat assessment in 2015 as required by the USACE permit. Water quality and play improve at a Willoughby, Ohio, golf course after DRG transforms an eroded creek. After the restoration, Ward Creek lacked a true riparian area and suffered from severe bank erosion. Erosion control matting at hole 13 kept soil and fledgling plants in place through the winter in the newly excavated riparian flood plain. Construction at hole 13 involved rerouting a section of the stream away from a heavily eroded embankment, which was reinforced with rock.

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