Mianus River Park habitat restoration and enhancement

[Bucksnbows]

Just home from a two week project to create habitat in the Mianus River Park (city owned, not state park which is immediately downstream) in Stamford, CT. We restored deep pool habitat for summer thermal refuge, boulder pocket “runs” for diversified habitat, and riffle creation to increase benthic macro invertebrates (the aquatic insects trout and other fish eat that fuel the ecosystem). Our client was the Mianus Chapter of Trout Unlimited. We did 16 sites over a mile of river. 
 

We are also working on removing three or four dams on this river in coming years, making this a year round wild trout fishery and improving water quality for the city of Stamford who drink this water.  This project brought tremendous focus to the river and its bright future. Enjoy the pix and it will be state stocked soon…..

[crappyice]

So cool...I fished the NY side of that stream and had some decent success. Couple of stretch have some deep

[2BuckBizCT]

Wow, interesting work. What did the CT chapter pay for that work? Totally understand if you can't say.

[Bucksnbows]

2 minutes ago, 2BuckBizCT said:

Wow, interesting work. What did the CT chapter pay for that work? Totally understand if you can't say.

I’m not sure if they would want me to say or not although likely they would be happy to tell you. So over $100k, but thats survey, design, engineering to prove design (Certificate of No Rise), and federal (Army Corps), state (CT DEEP), and Inland Wetlands (Stamford, CT) permits, about 5 triaxle loads of large boulders although we got most of what we needed onsite, plus construction with our team. 

[Bucksnbows]

More pictures….we stayed in North Stamford in an Airbnb and stayed in all but one night. No more hotels and restaurants for us on week + long jobs!  

[mowin]

Assuming it's very dry in your area like it is here, and the creeks are drying up, Dose that make the job easier or harder as far as all the regulations go? 

[Bucksnbows]

10 minutes ago, mowin said:

Assuming it's very dry in your area like it is here, and the creeks are drying up, Dose that make the job easier or harder as far as all the regulations go? 

This particular stretch is controlled by bottom releases from a reservoir upstream. We had steady flows the entire time other than a quick rain a week ago Saturday. We build our structures to “base flow” for the most part and we had that all 12+ days. When it pours and flows jump up, we often take a day off to allow the river to drop. When we have lower than normal flows, we build our structures higher to compensate.  Regulations already force us mostly into “low flow months” which are June through September. After that, we run into wild trout spawning restrictions, wood turtle hibernation timing restrictions, or higher flows in general, depending on where we are working. We have some winter work coming up in New Jersey which is rare, but it has to do with the stream not having wild trout, but rather a state threatened species of salamander that will be safely hibernating when we work in winter in that stream and (mostly) on its banks. 

Edited September 16, 2024 by Bucksnbows

[Rusty]

The trout thank you Brian,  as do the guys that like to catch the trout.  

[mowin]

9 minutes ago, Rusty said:

The trout thank you Brian,  as do the guys that like to catch the trout.  

And eat one now and then. 

[broomeguy]

Very cool! The fish appreciate your hard work!

[Bucksnbows]

Long term goal for this river would be a sustainable wild brown trout population. It has some now, but could have a lot more with better temps and connectivity as well as diversified insect populations. All that will come with upstream dam removals. This river is “sediment starved” from the dams in this one mile reach. Removing dams will allow normal sediment transport once again, and some aquatic insects require more sediment than others.  Right now the river here is a stonefly bonanza which means clean and cold water. But the lack of mayflies and species abundance with caddis tell the story about sediment trapping upstream.