Sara Moore
Science Editor
On Thursday, Sept. 10, members of the campus community gathered to hear about a stream restoration project occurring in the College’s backyard. The talk was titled “Stream Restoration: Bringing the Stream Back into Balance” and was presented by Peter Quent. Quent works for EnviroScience, which is an environmental consulting organization that addresses over 300 types of issues, including ecological restoration, laboratory analyses and endangered species management.
After introducing himself and EnviroScience, Quent discussed how stream restoration is conducted. The first thing scientists do is collect data from the stream to determine its classification.
Streams are classified using the Rosgen Stream Classification system, which was introduced by David Rosgen in the 1994 article, “A classification of natural rivers.” Under this system, streams are assigned a letter from A-G denoting their geomorphic (landscape) characteristics and a number from 1-6 which denotes their morphological (structural) description.
Most streams in Ohio are Type C streams, meaning that they have well-defined flood plains, low gradients and meandering structures. The focus of the talk was Apple Creek, which runs through Grosjean Park and is located in southeast Wooster.
Grosjean Park is a federally regulated floodway and cannot be developed, which creates a unique opportunity for stream restoration. A one-mile stretch of Apple Creek flows through Grosjean Park and eventually joins Killbuck Creek, a tributary of the Walhonding River. The section of Apple Creek that runs through Grosjean Park has never been straightened, but runoff from surrounding urban areas has led it to require restoration.
Some of the major issues that plague Apple Creek are unprotected toes (the points where the stream meets the bank), unprotected floodplains and many mid-bars (areas where large portions of sediment are deposited in the stream). These factors make the banks of the stream susceptible to erosion and more likely to flood during heavy rain.
To combat this, people like Quent have created a plan to speed up the natural process of stream restoration. Streams are able to restore themselves, but it can take hundreds of years, while a proper restoration plan can be completed in three or four months.
Some of the strategies used in stream restoration are planting vegetation along floodplains, creating natural erosion barriers known as “green armoring” and establishing j-hook structures that dissipate the energy of the water and preserve natural curves in the stream.
Quent acknowledged that one of the most difficult elements of stream restoration is determining if the process should be for the benefit of humans or the environment. While it might seem like a better strategy to not prioritize humans when restoring an area, it is important to ensure that the public understands why stream restoration is necessary. This thought is what led to Quent’s question:
“How are we going to get people to care about [a stream] if they can’t see it? How are we going to get people to care about things if they can’t use them?”
When speaking about why streams should be restored, Quent said that the main factor people think about is flood mitigation. People hear about flooding in other places and do not want their homes to flood, so they invest in flood prevention measures. However, there are other benefits to stream restoration, such as improvements in biological diversity, pollinator habitats and water retention by soil.
Quent ended his talk by suggesting some low-cost options that can be applied to improve the health of a stream. These include limiting foot traffic near streams, adding trees and other vegetation along the banks and using stones to create weirs, which are gaps between the bank and the stream.
Stream restoration can seem like a daunting process, but as Quent said, “given the right size of equipment [and] the right size of material, you can move mountains and protect mountains.”
Quent’s talk was well-received by attendees. Eddie Fatica ’28 said, “I liked how easily understandable he made everything. I am a stream person and I’m a fisher, so I know a lot … but from an outside perspective looking in, I would be able to easily understand it.”
Greg Wiles, professor of earth sciences, said, “it’s a timely talk. Our hydrology lab has worked down there for one of their lessons … We have a lot of questions about … the kind of work that’s being done down there, so it’s great to hear from a professional who’s doing work in the field.” People do not always consider streams when thinking about where they live, but the restoration work being done shows how important they are to the local ecosystem.
