Little Crabtree Creek Restoration Project
Little Crabtree Creek restoration during instream construction.
Little Crabtree Creek
Watershed – North Toe River
Yancey County, Burnsville, NC
Status: Complete
Stream Restored: ~3,300 feet
Partners:
Resource Concern/Issues:
Little Crabtree Creek was actively migrating with an unstable channel bed and eroding streambanks. Additionally, it lacked sinuosity, a sufficient riparian buffer, and aquatic habitat.
Instream structures just after construction on the Little Crabtree Creek restoration project.
Before restoration, Little Crabtree Creek lacked adequate dimension, pattern, and profile, increasing the sediment load.
Project Objectives:
Improve water quality by reducing sediment, nutrient, organic, and inorganic loading of the stream and reduce streambank erosion
Stabilize the stream reach to prevent further aggradation or degradation by providing an improved dimension, pattern and/or profile that will improve sediment transport, and manage surface waters and groundwater levels in floodplains, riparian areas, and wetlands
Construct rock and woody structures to provide instream habitat, stabilize streambanks and the channel bed
Install fencing to restrict livestock access to the stream corridor to protect streambanks and streambank vegetation
Establish a riparian buffer, remove invasive plant species and reestablish native plants, trees, and shrubs