A few years back, DL Howell designed a subdivision that involved the removal of an old farm pond and restoring the original spring fed channel. While many of us think ponds are a good thing... I mean, who doesn’t love a good game of pond hockey in January or sitting along the banks in the summer with a fishing line out, but surprisingly they can actually be damaging to the environment. Yes, they do provide a great place for wildlife to live, but in reality a large shallow pond can also be very detrimental to the downstream microfauna and fish habitat as they increase the water temperature and can harmfully affect the aquatic ecosystem. The Department of Environmental Protection also looks negatively at in-line ponds as they block fish from moving freely up and down the creek. So needless to say, it wasn’t that difficult to obtain the necessary approvals from the DEP and Army Corp to draw down the water, breach the berm of the pond, and restore the channel to its original condition. After the initial work was complete, riparian buffers were implemented by planting natives species along the newly formed channel, which will provide for new wildlife habitat and water quality filtering.

Take a look at these before and after pictures...