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Celebrate Earth Day with
the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed!
By Kelly Meinhart, Producer
This week we’re revisiting with the Keystone College Willary
Water Discovery Center, a program that originally aired in May
2001, to introduce you to their newest project. In collaboration
with many partners and funded through the Growing Greener Program,
the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed is celebrating earth day with
the release of the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed Atlas.
The atlas is an online informational and educational distribution
center for the community, allowing users to access the latest
research about the water, investigate the history of the watershed,
and to view online mapping.
To celebrate, Keystone and their many partners are holding a
public forum to celebrate the release of the watershed atlas,
and to discuss the state of the watershed and sub-watersheds,
and highlight greenway projects as well as Growing Greener projects
going on in the watershed. This exciting event is being held
at Keystone College on April 22nd from 6:00 to 8:00. To find
out more information about this event check out the Keystone
Willary Water Discovery Center.
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Keystone College Water Discovery
Center
Riparian Restoration Project
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January, 1996 flood caused extensive erosional damage along
Ackerly Creek near the confluence with Tunkhannock Creek. Fast
moving floodwaters tore away tens of feet of stream bank, cutting
into the athletic fields and tearing out the original Nokomis
bridge behind the library. More unstable stream banks were poised
to collapse into the stream. A grant from the Northeastern Pennsylvania
Urban Forestry Program allowed the College to repair the damage
and develop a model project for restoration techniques.
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riparian zone is that area between the stream bank and adjacent
forest. This area had been historically degraded by removing
much of the vegetation for farming and recreational purposes.
In part, this set the stage for the flood damage.
 epair
meant reestablishing a more natural riparian buffer zone. This
vegetated area would help to reduce and catch erosion and runoff
that was now going directly into the stream. Additionally, shade
would cool and moderate the water temperature. The vegetation
also provides wildlife habitat.
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restore the area and reestablish the riparian buffer zone would
require stabilization of the streambank. A mixture of techniques
was chosen. 'Hard armor', such as riprap (large rocks), was
deployed along part of the bank. 'Soft armor' bioengineering
techniques were also incorporated, including biologs constructed
of plant materials to help hold the bank. Fabric mesh was laid
on the graded banks to stabilize the bare soil. Water loving
vegetation such as willows were planted directly into the bank.
Quickly developing root masses will provide integrity to the
banks. Red-osier Dogwood and Arrowwood Viburnum are among the
water tolerant plants that were integrated
 ownstream
several large downed trees were buried in the streambank with
their roots protruding into the channel. These rootwads deflect
and slow the current, and provide fish cover.
With extensive community and volunteer support, this award-winning
project has been a great success and has attracted professional
restoration biologists eager to see mitigation techniques at
work.
A more detailed discussion of the project is available in the
Riparian Interpretive Trail Guide, available by contacting the
Water Discovery Center at: 570-945-5141.
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The Water Discovery
Interpretive Nature Trail at Keystone College
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Water Discovery Interpretive Nature Trail at Keystone College
is one of several trails on the campus.
 Water
Discovery Interpretive Nature Trail
Nokomis
Trail
Orienteering
Trail
Riparian
Demonstration and Interpretive Trail
Tree
Identification
Tunkhannock
Trail
Wyoming
Trail
All trails have interpretive guidebooks and are open to the
public during daylight hours.
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