Unnamed Tributary to North Buffalo Creek Stream Restoration at Starmount Forest Country Club

Client: North Carolina Department of Transportation

Location: Greensboro, North Carolina

Services: Natural resource inventory, stream classification, mitigation planning, design, survey, permitting, agency coordination, specification and plan preparation, and construction oversight.

KCI prepared a mitigation plan and stream restoration design plans for tributaries to North Buffalo Creek as they flow through Starmount Forest Country Club (SFCC). The plan documented the existing system conditions, established goals and objectives for the project, and outlined proposed restoration activities and their relation to mitigation credits.

Stream assessment and classification was performed according to the methodologies in Applied River Morphology (Rosgen, 1996). The stream type identified on SFCC was the G4c stream.

Site investigation identified system deficiencies including poor water quality, severe bank erosion, channel widening, bed aggradation, loss of aquatic habitat and riparian buffers, and inconsistencies in the pattern, dimension, and profile of the stream. The following objectives were established as guidelines for the restoration design and mitigation plan:

Nine channel planform adjustments, including modification of the cross-section to mimic a “C4” stream type, increased sinuosity in the straightened channels causing a decrease in velocity and a subsequent dissipation of stream energy. Planform adjustments also re-established a stable profile (riffle/pool complexes). The floodplain will also now serve as an effective sediment trap. Bank treatments included coir (coconut) fiber rolls, coir fiber matting and seeding, river rock, and live dormant stakes.

A significant part of the restoration plan was the reestablishment of riparian buffers along the restored streams. The vegetation slows down overland flow allowing sediment, gravel and sand to drop out before the storm runoff reaches the stream. Riparian vegetation also assists in removing pollutants from overland runoff.

KCI provided on-site technical assistance and construction oversight services, as well as education and training sessions, during the implementation phase.

The project was completed in the spring of 1999.

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