Large-scale Stream Restoration in the Texas Blackland Prairies
Garrat Carson
Scott Bosworth
Wildwood Environmental Credit Company, LLC
Tyler, TX
Authors: R. Garrat Carson, Bosworth, Scott, Sunda, Cliff J.
Restoration of the Arnold Creek Mitigation Bank was completed in early 2023. The project is located 30 miles northeast of Dallas, Texas in Collin County and the Texas Blackland Prairie. The 951-acre project restored 55,000 linear feet of stream channel and 24 acres of wetlands. It also enhanced 83,000 linear feet of riparian corridor and 218 acres of other wetlands. Wildwood has led all aspects of the project from initial land acquisition through permitting, construction oversight, and monitoring.
The Texas Blackland Prairies are a narrow ecoregion that extends from the Texas/Oklahoma border to South Texas along the I-35 corridor that includes the rapidly growing urban centers of Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio. It presents interesting challenges to stream restoration. Soils in this region are black vertisol clays with a high erosive potential and a low concentration of native rock and gravel. The region is subject to frequent and prolonged seasonal droughts. The dynamic shrink-swell action of these soils leads to complications including unstable stream bed material, dislodged grade control structures, and challenges to successful revegetation, particularly in streams with higher gradients.
This presentation will explore aspects of project development, implementation, and ongoing monitoring unique to the site and the Blackland Prairies. This includes development of a regional curve, restoring a stream subject to a major interbasin water transfer, the groundwater response to Priority 1 restoration, planted tree survival, sediment retention estimates, invasive species control efforts, and efficacy of various in-channel structures in this environment. We will explore lessons learned from the site that can be incorporated into other stream restoration projects throughout the ecoregion.
About Garrat Carson
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About Scott Bosworth
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