A streambank restoration project along a section of Slab Cabin Run in College Township is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
Stabilization work will take place along the stretch of the run from Puddintown Road to the College Township Building, primarily on Millbrook Marsh Nature Center property, according to the township. Equipment staging will take place at the township building.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is performing the work on behalf of the Spring Creek Chapter of Trout Unlimited, with the project expected to be completed by Oct. 1.
“During the project, residents can anticipate seeing significant activity along the streambanks and muddy water flowing in the stream periodically,” the township wrote in a news release.
Residents should refrain from entering the project area. Millbrook Marsh pathways not designated for restricted access or closure will remain accessible to the public, and the bike path from the township building to Puddintown Road will remain open.
The local chapter of Trout Unlimited received a $211,341 grant for the project in January from the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Growing Greener Plus program.
According to the project description, the work will restore 4,409 linear feet of streambank, reconnecting the stream with the floodplain in the marsh and providing structures to limit bank erosion.
In announcing the grant in January, state Rep. Paul Takac, D-College Township, a former chair of the Spring Creek Watershed Commission, called it “an important rehabilitation and restoration project.”
“The funding will help rehabilitate the upper Spring Creek ecosystem by building out riparian buffers, helping control stormwater and restoring critical habitat to support the great variety of native plants and wildlife that rely on this local treasure,” Takac said. “The marsh also serves as a first-class educational and recreational resource and this project will help contribute to that mission, and I’m proud to have written a letter of support in 2023 for funding this project.”
Ford Stryker, Spring Creek Chapter of Trout Unlimited board member and chair of its Conservation Committee, said at the time that in addition to the importance of the environmental aspect, the project “will be a great demonstration project for those that come to Millbrook Marsh to learn how watershed restoration can improve the health of the stream and mitigate impacts of climate change.”
