Stream Relocation Site
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

A confidential utility company needed to construct a multi-unit, 450-megawatt electric generation facility in order to serve the needs of customers during periods of peak power demand. The proposed construction site of the facility is located in an area that would have unavoidable impacts to an unnamed tributary to a major river and emergent wetlands.

WHM designed a plan to relocate the stream channel east of the project area. The stream channel flowed through agricultural farmlands and was largely unimproved. Cut slope, bank erosion and nutrient runoff from the field is evident. WHM also designed a mitigation plan to construct wetlands along the newly constructed stream banks and at the lower end of stream channel. The overall goal of this project was to replace impacted areas with a stable stream channel and wetlands that endure and function at a higher quality than the existing conditions of these areas. The design incorporated a riparian buffer along the watercourse that would provide a wildlife habitat corridor, flood attenuation, enhanced aesthetic appearance, and improved water quality through nutrient and sediment removal.

The tasks involved in this project included regulatory agency negotiations, stream and wetland design, planting selection, permitting, construction monitoring services and wetland mitigation monitoring. These tasks were performed through a joint endeavor with a civil engineering consultant working on the overall site development plan.

The results of the Stream Relocation and Wetlands Mitigation Plan included a defined and stable stream channel with structure, reconnected to an existing tributary with newly constructed wetlands.

As part of the plan, WHM would monitor this site during periodic inspections for at least five years. The monitoring will include plant cover and survival estimates, water quality and water level data, photographic documentation of wetland progression and bird and wildlife observations and counts. WHM would continue to maintain correspondence with the Pennsylvania DEP and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and provide quarterly and annual monitoring to ensure the success of the site.

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