River Restoration Projects
Restoration Sites
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Maintaining the quality of our watershed not only means preserving what is right. It also means fixing what is not. With this in mind we have taken on an active restoration program for the river and tributary streams.
Our concerns with high water temperatures and our temperature monitoring show the critical role shade trees play in keeping water temperatures at healthy levels. Re-planting of banks with trees and shrubs can reduce erosion, lower water temperatures, improve water quality and can even help to reduce flooding downstream. To-date our projects have addressed such sites in Bloomingdale, Kinnelon/West Milford and Riverdale, with more scheduled for the future. We are also removing invasive, non-native plants where necessary and then restoring native vegetation to our river and stream-side lands.
In other areas different measures are useful. Through Vernon and Hardyston old, abandoned beaver dams cause higher water temperatures, endangering our native brook trout. PRC has been removing these dams and documenting the positive changes. On the West Brook in West Milford, a PRC-built siphon device is lowering stream temperatures there for the benefit of trout and other wildlife.
Donations from our members and sponsors, both in funding and volunteer effort, are critical to the success of these projects. Can you help? A small donation of time or money goes a long, long way.
Before Restoration After Restoration