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In September
2001, the Northern Kentucky University Center for Applied
Ecology submitted to the Mill Creek Restoration Project a report
entitled Caldwell-Seymour Greenway Trail: Ecological Assessment
and Habit Restoration Recommendations. The report included the
results of a preliminary assessment of the Seymour Nature
Preserve relative to opportunities for stream corridor
restoration and stormwater wetlands construction within the
park.
The Mill
Creek Restoration Project subsequently received a Clean Ohio
Fund Grant, and retained the Center to perform a watershed-scale
assessment to identify causes of the noted stream corridor
degradation, and to provide recommendations for stream system
restoration and the construction of two demonstration
wetlands. The watershed assessment was performed between June
and August 2003 and is based upon a reconnaissance of all the
significant streams within the watershed and compilation and
interpretation of published watershed data.
The main
stream through the Seymour Nature Preserve is classified by the
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as an un-named 3rd-order
intermittent stream on the respective USGS 7.5-minute
topographic map. This stream is referred to as Seymour Creek or
Dan's Creek, and is a south-flowing tributary of Mill Creek.
Conditions observed at Seymour Creek and its tributaries within
Seymour Preserve included:
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Historic
modification of the stream corridor (filling of floodplains,
hillsides, and ravines; stream relocation, damming,
channelization, and culvertization)
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Stream
channel erosion and aggradation (in-filling)
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High
sediment load resulting in poor aquatic habitat (continual
movement and burial of substrate, lack of natural
pool/riffle sequences)
The
Center for Applied Ecology restored 300 feet of entrenched
stream by channel widening, construction of a floodplain, and
placement of channel substrate. Rock veins were used to divert
water flow and reduce soil erosion. Native trees, shrubs,
grasses and forbs were planted in the construction zone to
stabilize banks and improve water quality. |
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