Implementing Restoration Projects Upstream from the Teaneck Creek Conservancy
by Jeremiah D. Bergstrom1, Peter Kallin2, and
Christopher Obropta3
1Water Resources, TRC Environmental Corporation, Trenton, New Jersey 08628
2Belgrade Regional Conservation Alliance, P.O. Box 250, Belgrade Lake, Maine 04918
3Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901
Abstract
During initial investigations, scientists identified several off-site situations that were negatively affecting the health and diversity of the wetland and riparian habitats in the Teaneck Creek Conservancy restoration site. Significant off-site influences include high nitrogen inputs and non-point source pollution generated by a local hospital and the extensive presence of invasive species, chiefly Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum), along the upstream banks of Teaneck Creek. This upstream source of high nitrogen loadings and the seeds of invasive species continues to threaten efforts to achieve a successful and sustainable long-term wetlands restoration on the Teaneck Creek Conservancy site. To address the nitrogen inputs, the restoration team has partnered with Holy Name Hospital, situated at the headwaters of Teaneck Creek, to develop a stormwater runoff management program. To address the downstream spread of invasive species, a partnership was formed with the Teaneck Board of Education to manage invasive species adjacent to the northern entrance to the Teaneck Creek Conservancy site. Working with the restoration project partners, Holy Name Hospital and the Teaneck Board of Education have developed plans to address stormwater runoff and erosion impacts, implement an invasive species management program in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to control the Japanese knotweed, and reestablish a native riparian vegetative buffer along the entire length of Teaneck Creek upstream of the Conservancy property. Such alliances formed to deal with upstream factors illustrate the type of approach required to develop successful and sustainable long-term ecological restorations in urban areas.
Keywords: stormwater, restoration, stabilization, streams, wetlands, rain garden, invasive species