EPA Grant To Help Restore Pond Brook

Stream restoration efforts in the Tinkers Creek watershed will receive a big boost thanks to a $326,900 grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

According to an EPA press release, the grant to Metro Parks Serving Summit County is one of 12 Ohio EPA issued statewide totaling $2.7 million to help communities restore waterways impaired by nonpoint source pollution. Metro Parks will use the money – along with a local match of $125,000 – to restore 1,150 feet of floodplain and stream channel in Pond Brook located in Twinsburg’s Liberty Park.

The targeted section of Pond Brook is currently channelized and entrenched. Metro Parks plans to restore a natural flow to the stream by reducing its channel width and establishing meanders in a 120-foot wide floodplain.

In-stream habitat will be restored by installing 1,100 tons of stone and other natural materials, and the floodplain and streambank will be re-vegetated with more than 7,000 shrubs and trees.

The restoration effort is expected to significantly reduce the amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and sediments discharging from Pond Brook into Tinkers Creek and improve overall water quality in the watershed.

Nonpoint source pollution is the leading cause of water quality impairment in Ohio’s streams and lakes. It is caused by rain or snowmelt moving over and through the ground, picking up natural and human-made pollutants and depositing them in lakes, rivers, wetlands and other waterways.

Other forms of nonpoint source pollution include modifications to natural stream flow, habitat alteration and nutrients. Polluted runoff can have harmful effects on drinking water supplies, recreation, fisheries and wildlife.