The Nature Conservancy: Big Woods Stream Restoration

Volunteers

Many thanks from the Arkansas Nature Conservancy staff to the many volunteers that came out last Friday to help install willow and sycamore live stakes at our stream restoration site. A diverse assemblage of over thirty individuals braved the cold, wet weather and successfully planted three thousand native trees along Benson Creek's new, meandering streamcourse. The group included sixteen students from Brinkley High School and several members of the organization of Central Arkansas Master Naturalists. Again, for your enthusiasm and hard work... thanks.

   

Connections Made

As of December 2007, Benson Slash Creek is again a free-flowing stream.  Over the past few weeks we have hydrologically connected Benson's newly-restored streambed and created a series of floodplain wetlands out of the century-old agricultural channel that previously confined its flow. Hydrostatic pressure transducers set within the stream and down in wells among the floodplain monitor the changes in site hydrology in response to restoration.

Photopoints

Oct. 12 2006                                                          Sep. 13 2007

Oct. 25 2006                                                          Sep. 13 2007                                                

May 10 2007                                                          Sep. 13 2007 

Newsworthy

Recent video from Yahoo's Assignment Earth (click on link to view) highlights our ongoing effort to transform Benson Slash Creek from an agricultural ditch into a natural stream.

Live Stakes *Update*

It has been six weeks since thousands of live buttonbush and willow cuttings were installed throughout the restoration site, and the results are dramatic. At this point we are seeing around 95% survival rates, meaning that only 1 out of every 20 live stakes has failed to sprout new leaves and branches.

"We will probably observe slightly higher mortality rates when the weather turns drier and hotter as July and August set in," says Restoration Technician Clint Harris, who is overseeing much of this project's bioengineering.  "If the plants looks as healthy undergroung as they do above, however, their root systems should be able to support them through the summer months."

Pictured at left, a mass of cricket frog eggs has been attached to a newly-sprouted buttonbush sapling. This is only a small example of the many native species that have begun to re-colonize Benson Creek during the process of construction. Tracking these biological changes is an important aspect of this restoration project.

Phase 3 Commences

Last week construction began on Phase three of the Benson Creek Stream Restoration project. "This phase involves digging and stabilizing what is referred to is an E channel," says Delta Project Manager Matt Lindsey. An E channel is best described as a highly sinuous stream type with a low width to depth ratio (meaning that it is relatively narrow and deep).

In this case we are digging a channel that is around 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep. E channels are characterized by their natural box-like shape and often overhanging banks. Relying upon thick, deep root systems of riparian vegetation and a highly developed floodplain, the streambed and banks of E channels are highly stable, meaning less sediment entering downstream.

Here, Cache River Project Manager Josh Duzan and volunteer Holly Clinkingbeard (of Fayetteville, AR) install biodegradeable jute fiber matting over a bed of hay and native seeds. This will temporarily stabilize the stream while wetland vegetation takes hold.

Live Stakes

Sore backs, knees, arms, and hands attest to the three-thousand live stakes installed at our stream restoration site over the last two days. Many thanks to Arkansas Nature Conservancy staff Mike, Clint, Kyle, Seth, Joy, Roger, Sagar, Julie, and Jerry...and thanks especially to our volunteer Robert. This is a not-so-glamarous task but the results should be outstanding. Stay posted for survival and growth rates in respose to your hard work.

 

   

Change of Seasons

Springtime has officially hit the Arkansas Delta as teperatures rise to the 60's and 70's during the day, encouraging new plant growth on our restoration site.  Hundreds of live willow stakes that have remained dormant since installation are now vigorously producing leaves and root-systems essential to the stability of the carefully-sculpted streambanks.

Over the next two to three weeks, we plan on installing an additional three- thousand black willow and buttonbush live stakes within the newly constructed stream. We are trying to take full advantage of the present mild temperatures and moist soils that are optimal for plant growth and propagation.

Muddy Waters

Benson Creek lies within the Cache River Watershed in the Arkansas delta. The Cache and its main tributary Bayou DeView suffer from degraded water quality, characterized by elevated levels of nutrients, biocides, and (most noticeably) sediment.  According to locals, as recently as 50 years ago most of the low-gradient rivers and streams in eastern Arkansas still "ran clear... and (were) deeper and narrower as well."

New scientific evidence has shown that sediment and nutrient-laden waters not ony degrade habitat close to the source, but can affect downstream systems, sometimes hundreds of miles away. Degraded water quality in Arkansas has been shown to contribute to the second-largest zone of oxygen-depleted coastal waters in the world. Also known as the "dead zone," the hypoxic waters off the Louisiana coast (where the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico) have more than doubled in size since 1984.

One of the main goals of this stream restoration is to serve as a demonstration site for water quality improvement within the Lower Mississippi River region. Our   monitoring plan includes installing and collecting data from a continuous sampling station located just downstream of our project area. This station, along with 6 others dispersed within the Cache watershed, is part of a larger study by The Nature Conservancy, in partnership with Arkansas Natural Resources Commission (ANRC), to understand the sources of elevated suspended sediment in the Cache River and Bayou DeView

 

Winter Break

As expected, work on the jobsite has stopped for the Winter, a time in Eastern Arkansas when seasonal rains flood streams and rivers and saturate the soil. Currently our stream restoration project is on schedule (half of the proposed channel has been excavated), and work will resume in the Spring with a completion date expected sometime this Summer.