The Department of Environmental Protection has determined certain reaches of Paxton Creek have been impaired or compromised by excessive sediment, the accumulation of unwanted soil particles or other materials transported by surface water. In response, Lower Paxton Township, Susquehanna Township and Capital Region Water (CRW) on behalf of the City of Harrisburg, are working together to define and develop strategies that will improve water quality in Paxton Creek and its tributaries.
Sediment accumulation in streams can be attributed to a number of sources such as construction site runoff, urban runoff and storm sewers, and agriculture. However, past land development practices have changed the land use cover, decreasing natural infiltration of rain water into the ground and increasing the volume of water runoff draining to the Paxton Creek watershed. This additional water volume along with the increase in water velocity has resulted in excessive stream bank and channel erosion. It has been estimated that eighty-six percent of unwanted sediment in Paxton Creek is contributed by stream erosion.
In the case of the Paxton Creek watershed, regulatory standards require that bordering municipalities reduce sediment in the Paxton Creek watershed by 35 percent. Some of the reduction strategies that may be employed are stream bank restoration, stream riparian enhancement and measures to reduce excessive volumes of stormwater runoff. The results will have far reaching effects.
The average depth of water in Wildwood Lake, at one time was 4 feet. Now it has been reduced to approximately 6 inches.
Wildwood Lake, which is located on the northern edge of Harrisburg, is a beautiful and attractive nature park enjoyed by 85,000 annual visitors and provides educational programs reaching 15,000 people per year. Many do not realize that it is also one of Harrisburg’s main flood storage areas. But its capacity as a flood control impoundment has diminished because of the accumulation of sediment that has been deposited over the last century from the upstream Paxton Creek watershed. The average depth of water in Wildwood Lake, which at one time was four feet, has been reduced to its current state of approximately six inches.
Herbert, Rowland & Grubic, Inc. (HRG) prepared a Wildwood Lake Restoration Feasibility Study for the Dauphin County Commissioners. The noted objectives for potentially restoring Wildwood Lake’s stormwater capacity would be:
- Improve and maintain the component of Wildwood Lake’s flood control impoundment capacity which would provide downstream flood protection for the City of Harrisburg and reduce flood damage in the downstream watershed;
- Enhance water quality to the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay by having Wildwood Lake act as a Stormwater Best Management Practice by trapping sediments and pollutants;
- Create diverse aquatic ecosystems and habitats for both plants and animals to thrive
An important and long lasting benefit of measurably reducing the sediment load in Paxton Creek would be support of Wildwood Lake’s stormwater control function and complex ecosystem.
CRW along with Lower Paxton Township and Susquehanna Township have entered into an Inter-Municipal Agreement and engaged HRG to prepare a Joint Pollution Reduction Plan (Paxton Creek Watershed TMDL, Chesapeake Bay PRP, Wildwood Lake PRP, and UNT Spring Creek PRP). This PRP plan focuses on developing meaningful and definitive measures to meet the sediment pollution load/budget and improve water quality in Paxton Creek.
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