Click here to see our video! The source of Falling Spring, one of the preeminent spring creeks in the state Pennsylvania, had for many years been reduced to a stagnant pond with virtually no in-stream habitat. Initial biological surveys indicated very little quality habitat existed for trout or other aquatic organisms. The existing pond allowed the spring water to warm, creating a thermal problem for downstream reaches. Although the Falling Spring Greenway, Inc. had identified the reach for potential restoration, the pond had been left untouched for decades.

Working with the Falling Spring Greenway, Inc. Ecotone developed a grant proposal for eventual submission to Pennsylvania’s Growing Greener Program for funding. Ecotone contacted landowners who owned the headwater reach for support. The grant for the design, construction, and monitoring of the reach was awarded in 2002. Ecotone developed a design which narrowed the stream from over 70 feet wide to less than 12. Natural runs and pools were incorporated into the design. Along the outer runs and pools, lunker structures were proposed to provide overhead cover adjacent to feeding lanes. A series of boulders were strategically designed to provide diverse velocity isovels for high quality feeding lanes. The design also incorporated a complex sequence of construction to divert spring baseflow around the work area.

The project was constructed in the summer of 2006. A total of 750 linear feet of channel was restored to the Falling Spring. Successes from the project were evident only days after construction was completed. Because of the narrowing of the stream, low flow velocities in the stream were dramatically increased. The increased habitat. velocities and bankside cover provided by the lunker structure placement immediately attracted brown and rainbow trout of various age classes. Within less than one year after construction, resident wild trout fully colonized the restored reach. Benthic invertebrates also colonized the new channel. The reach now provides excellent hatches to the delight of the local fly fishermen. The landowners have been especially complimentary about the project outcomes as the stagnant pond on their property was returned to its former glory as a high quality trout stream.