Cocalico Creek Stream Restoration

In collaboration with the Cocalico Creek Watershed Association and a private landowner, LandStudies designed and constructed a stream restoration project along approximately 500 feet of the Cocalico Creek in West Cocalico Township, Lancaster County, PA. The project is designed to address pollution loadings from stream degradation by eliminating bank erosion on the site, reducing the sediment load within the Cocalico Creek Watershed, and improving the riparian corridor on the property. The restoration includes a combination of streambank grading, seeding, erosion control matting, and native tree and shrub plantings to help filter pollutant runoff.

This stream restoration project was identified as a priority project to improve local watershed and stream health, and also provide significant nutrient and sediment reductions related to the Chesapeake Bay. This project is funded by the PA Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) Growing Greener program and the Cocalico Creek Watershed Association. It is anticipated to provide water quality benefits by reducing pollutant loadings into the watershed in the amount of 22,400 pounds of Sediment per year; 34 pounds of Phosphorus per year; and 37.5 pounds of Nitrogen per year which will further the goals of the pollution reduction in Pennsylvania’s Phase 3 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) and the overall efforts of the Cocalico Creek Watershed Association, West Cocalico Township, and other local municipalities in addressing sediment and nutrient loading in the Cocalico Creek Watershed.

Volunteers from the Cocalico Creek Watershed Association assisted in the installation of native plants and will maintain the site for several years to ensure sustainable and desirable results.

Before

After