Stream Corridor Restoration
Stream corridors are dynamic and complex. The watersheds and their stream corridors in our region have been significantly altered by human activity, stressing their capacity to achieve a generally stable condition, even though not static. The Stream Corridor Restoration Program works to restore riparian buffer zones, through the removal of invasive species and the planting of native species.
Challenger Seven Memorial Park
The Challenger Seven Memorial Park habitat restoration project focuses on the restoration of 75 acres of forested riparian habitat along Clear Creek in Harris County Texas. The project focuses primarily on the removal of invasive woody overstory and understory plant species while also targeting invasive vining species in problem areas. The Challenger Seven restoration project is important to restoring riparian habitat on the shores of Clear Creek. While densely populated with invasive species, the area was less
degraded than many riparian areas in the region, and the presence of many native plants indicated that recruitment of native species should be possible after the removal of competing invasives.
The riparian habitat has a direct effect on the water quality of Clear Creek. Functional riparian zones will slow the progress of water from the surrounding uplands into the creek and may help mitigate flooding. The reestablishment of the native understory will also help in soil retention and reduce erosion, as well as capture sediments and debris from runoff before it enters the channel. These healthy plant communities also can improve water quality through the utilization of nutrients, removing some from the water in order to facilitate plant growth
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Nature Based Solutions for Stream Corridor Restoration
Bayou Preservation Association’s Stream Corridor Restoration Principles and Checklist highlights four key areas important to thorough and successful project planning and implementation in the stream corridor.
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Incorporating Outreach for Successful Stream Corridor Restoration.
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Applying a Comprehensive Approach to Preserve, Improve, and Restore Stream Corridors.
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Using Best Practices to Support Form, Functions, and Values.
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Planning for Sustainability and Resilience in Future Benefits, Impacts, and Needs.
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Riparian Evaluation and Monitoring
The training focuses on the nature and function of stream and riparian zones, and the benefits and direct impacts from healthy riparian zones. The riparian education programs cover an introduction to riparian principles, watershed processes, basic hydrology, erosion/deposition principles, and riparian vegetation, as well as potential causes of degradation and possible resulting impairment(s), and available local resources including technical assistance and tools that can be employed to prevent and/or resolve degradation.
Texas Stream Team Riparian Evaluation citizen scientists are certified by completing a three-phase training that measures water quality by assessing the riparian habitat.