April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 16

WE ARE PARKS AND RECREATION
A Successful Flood Mitigation Project
Benefits Urban and Rural Communities
By JoAnne Castagna, Ed.D.
"
T
he Village of Delhi [New York] has experienced several extreme
flood events over the years, including the floods of
1973, 1996, 2006, 2010 and 2011, " says Jessica Patterson,
stream program technician at the Delaware County (New
York) Soil and Water Conservation District.
Matthew Krzyston grew up in
the Village of Delhi, less than a
mile from Reservoir Park. " As
a young kid, my parents would
take me there to picnic and play
in Steele Brook. It was a special
place that people of all ages loved
to visit, " he says. " However, during
storm events,
extreme eroding
of the streambanks caused trees
and clay sediment to fall into the
stream. This created flooding in
the village and made it impossible
to even enter the park, and it was
basically forgotten. "
Four decades later, Krzyston is
a member of Delhi's Joint Flood
Mitigation Committee that, with
the help of the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, New York District,
restored Steele Brook's banks.
Steele Brook flows into the West
Branch Delaware River, which is
located in the heart of the Village
of Delhi. The West Branch flows
into the Cannonsville Reservoir,
which supplies almost 97 billion
gallons of water to the New York
City water supply system.
To restore the streambank to reduce
flooding and improve water
quality, several agencies collaborated,
including the Army Corps
of Engineers, the New York State
Department
Conservation, the New York City
Department
of Environmental
of Environmental
Protection, the Village of Delhi,
the Delaware County Department
of Watershed Affairs, and the Delaware
County Soil and Water Conservation
District.
The
work included clearing the falling
trees and debris from the 632-footlong
Steele Brook and its 21-foothigh
slopes. Along the edges of the
stream, loose stones were placed to
slow down the stream and reduce
potential
damages downstream.
Along the stream border, a stacked
rock wall was built to prevent
sediment from running off the
slopes
into
the
stream
during
storm events. Above the stacked
rock wall, 8,414 feet of the bank
that was eroding was revegetated
with native plants, including native
willow live stakes. The plant's roots
stabilize the soil and prevent the
soil from running into the river. The
vegetation also traps and absorbs
sediment
and
pollutants,
like
harmful phosphorus and nitrogen
particles, from entering the stream.
The stream also was realigned to
include a floodplain, which prevents
pollutants from entering the stream.
Preventing
sediment from enSteele
Brook flows into the West Branch
Delaware River, which is located in the
heart of the Village of Delhi, New York.
16 Parks & Recreation | APRIL 2 0 22 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
streambank stabilization
PHOTO COURTESY OF DELAWARE COUNTY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation

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