YATES MILL STREAM RESTORATION

Wake County, NC

The Yates Millpond Sub-watershed in southern Wake County is part of the Neuse River Basin and drains into the 42,300 acre Swift Creek Watershed in the central Piedmont region of North Carolina. On-going water quality studies in the sub-watershed have indicated that the existing land uses and stream instability are degrading water quality. The purposes of this project are: (1) To restore the natural hydrology and forested buffers (up to 300 feet on each side of the stream) of about 4,000 linear feet of degraded stream channels and riparian areas north of Yates Millpond; and, overall, (2) to enhance water quality within the sub-watershed, as well as within the Swift Creek watershed and the Neuse River Basin.

Phase I restoration work was completed on May 12, 2000. As-built surveys were conducted within one week of completion of the project to document the new channel dimension, pattern, and profile, and provide a basis for assessing channel morphology over time. By late April, Tributary 1A had begun to exhibit ephemeral flow, with stream flow only occurring during and for a time after rainfall events. The first few rainfall events after completion of the project resulted in scour below the log weirs and vanes, and coarsening of the bed in riffle areas. These processes are necessary for the streambed to evolve from an excavated channel bottom to a stable and functioning streambed. Since these initial scour events, the streambed has become more stable, and recent larger flows have resulted in very little additional adjustment.

Construction on Yates Mill Phase II Restoration of Tributary 1a was completed at the end of May 2002. The clay plug was constructed at the upstream end of the project in the existing channel and the old channel was filled during April 2002. Reach II (450' of new channel) was constructed and the temporary diversion channel removed in May. The as-built survey for Phase II was completed in June 2002, including installation of 9 permanent cross-sections and survey of the longitudinal profile.

Ground water levels continue to be monitored. Samples are collected weekly from manual wells and data is downloaded monthly from two automated samplers.

FUNDING AGENCY

COOPERATORS

• North Carolina State University
• NCSU Water Quality Group
• Wake County Parks and Recreation

FUNDING AGENCIES

COOPERATORS