Document Type
Report
Abstract
When land that was once covered with vegetation and soil becomes dominated by impervious concrete and rooftops, the amount of water infiltrated by the ground plumets. As a result, most suburban areas contribute to the impairment of streams by adding excess water, nutrients, and pollutants to nearby waterways each time it rains. One harmful result of this is the erosion of stream banks. The rapid influx of water that occurs after rain events can destabilize and erode stream banks, resulting in excess sediment in the water. One location where this happened very prominently was a section of Plaster Creek which passed through Leisure Creek Condominiums. From 2020 to 2024, a grant-funded restoration project which sought to repair that section of the stream was implemented. Installed in two phases, the project included the construction of a floodplain, planting trees and native plants, and adding rock and root wads where necessary to stabilize the banks. Throughout the project, the stream was monitored and evaluated using a variety of methods, including Level Loggers, erosion pins, BANCS (BEHI and NBS) assessments, photographs, and observations. Comparison of the information gathered before and after construction revealed an increase in bank stability, with a shift from BEHI adjectives “high” and NBS of “extreme” and “high” to BEHI and NBS of “low” and “moderate”; Level Logger data indicated a more level increase in water depth as a result of rain events; and erosion pin data showed more gentle bank slopes, which decreases their susceptibility to erosion. Using the pre- and post BEHI and NBS data, it is estimated that the erosion decreased by 81%. Biodiversity also increased with the planting of 2.7 acres of wetlands, observations of mussels to the stream, and increased gravel beds, which support insect and fish species.
Publication Date
6-2025
Recommended Citation
Wildschut, Julie; Evenhouse, Rebecca; Lubberts, Andrea; Warners, Dave; and Weesies, Haley, "Evaluation of nature-based engineering stream restoration of Plaster Creek through Leisure Creek Condominium Association" (2025). Faculty and Professional Research. 20.
https://digitalcommons.calvin.edu/pcs_peer-reviewed/20