Spotlight on Success: Brubaker Run – Lime Spring Square Development
Back in April we first introduced you to the Brubaker Run – Lime Spring Square development project in East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County. LandStudies was brought in by Oak Tree Development Group to design this 11.5-acre floodplain restoration project on the 98-acre project development site. Construction started in September and represents just one piece of the network of stormwater best management practices (BMPs) associated with Lime Spring Square, which will contain a mix of industrial, commercial, retail, office space, and a community park.
When complete, the floodplain restoration project will not only remove legacy sediment and pollutants but will enhance groundwater recharge and provide many ecological and aesthetic improvements. The 8.4-acres of created wetlands and native vegetation, when combined with the restored and reconnected floodplain, will provide additional water quality benefits.
According to Justin Spangler, LandStudies Project Manager:
This is a great demonstration of how we can incorporate an ecologically productive ecosystem into a developed watershed.
The Brubaker Run Floodplain Restoration is reestablishing important stream and wetland functions that have been systematically erased from this watershed over the last 300 years. Restoring these functions will help the entire watershed by providing important ecological and water quality benefits on a large scale.
We are already seeing favorable ecological responses. Significant numbers of macroinvertebrates like mayflies, caddisflies and scuds have already repopulated the gravel within 20 days of returning water to the new stream channel, even while the floodplain is under active construction upstream. One reason this is important is because macroinvertebrate populations support higher order organisms in the food web.
See the drone video footage of the site below, taken on October 10, 2017. The video shows the floodplain restoration project at about 50% complete.
For past articles on the Brubaker Run – Lime Spring Square project, click here and here.
