Work to restore a creek to its original stream bed could be a model forchannelized waterways throughout the Great Lakes region. The GreatLakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
Work to restore a creek to its original streambed could be a model for
channelized waterways throughout the Great Lakes Region. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports.
The Nippersink Creek near Chicago used to be a wide ditch. In the 1950’s it
was straightened into a channel make room for farmland and to drain the
fields. The McHenry county conservation district bought the property to
make a park. It just finished restoring the stream to the original creek
bed. Brad Woodson works for the district. He says making the creek
meander through the area has helped the ecosystem.
“The sheer amount of stream miles has been increased probably three
or four times. When you put more habitat on the landscape, you’re going to
get more wildlife.”
Those who canoe the Nippersink like it too. The twists and turns are more
fun to paddle than the narrow, straight channel was. Environmentalists in
the area say the Nippersink dechannelization could be a model for other
creek restoration projects.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Lester Graham.