Recapturing Deep Brook In Dickinson Park

By Kendra Bobowick

The freshly turned ground held the shape of volunteers’ boot treads in spots along the edges of Deep Brook on Thursday, June 21.

Landscape designer Sarah Middeleer looked down at the riverside and said, “They’ve been coming and going all week. It’s a big planting day.” By Thursday troops of helping hands had contributed daily to the bank restoration project aimed at stabilizing portions of the stream that run through Dickinson Park.

How did it go?

“Good,” said Candlewood Valley chapter of Trout Unlimited President James Belden. “Everything went really well.” Eying Deep Brook and water protection overall, he said, “It’s the right thing to do.” Speaking of Dickinson Park’s stretch of Deep Brook, he said, “It makes the facility better for everyone.”

Conservation Officer Rob Sibley said, “It’s very exciting. It’s nice to see how much people care about our waterways and improvements to the park for years to come.”

From the Dickinson pavilion to the footbridge near FunSpace were lengths of stream bank obscured by dense tangles of invasive plants or blocked by fencing. Guests to the town park can now enjoy a better view, Mr Belden explained.

“Far more of the stream is visible now with no more fences or brambles in the way,” Mr Belden said. Before stabilizing the soil along Deep Brook, invasive plants had been removed. With the refreshed view comes better footing.

Welcoming children carrying beach pails and peering over the edge at their reflections are several spots that were reinforced with the curious in mind.

“There are certain areas that are inviting to kids that are more fortified for heavier foot traffic,” he said. He noted that the footbridge near FunSpace in particular was one place where “they were mostly doing that anyway.” Certain areas are cordoned off until the plantings take root. Parents watching their children will also enjoy the heavily overgrown patches that have been thinned and cleared of invasives. Overall, the stream has become an inviting characteristic of Dickinson Park. Mr Belden said, “You can see the stream in more places; there is not an inviting lawn down to the edge, but you can see it.”

The clearing, replanting, and stabilizing the banks has prepared the scene for more than environmental efforts alone. “We have more organized environmental education at this point, [by] creating a safer and more stable environment for kids to enter the stream,” Mr Belden said. Considering all the plantings and fortification that will hold the bank in place, he continued, “It’s now safer for the stream and for them.”

The Volunteers

Roots For Newtown founder Pat Barkman worked a hole into the soil and prepared to plant one of many cinnamon ferns that waited patiently in their pots by the water’s edge. Roots is a coalition of conservation-minded organizations, including Trout Unlimited and the Newtown Tree Project.

Conservation Commission Chairman Joe Hovious set aside his spade and watered the sapling sycamores and river birches that went into the ground during the week of June 18–22. The ferns and what will eventually grow into larger trees will take hold in the soil and replace the previous grass banks along the brook. Already in place are logs used to fortify the banks against the otherwise rapid erosion.

Kneeling on a mesh weave covering seeded areas to fill in between the ferns were Chris Rising, a member of the Master Gardeners Program at the University of Connecticut, and Conservation Commission member Mary Kaley, who dug into the river bank and planted another stretch of fern.

Spearheading the project is the Candlewood Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited, with the support of Newtown’s Land Use officials, recreation department, and environmental proponents. Parks and Recreation Department members contributed their machinery and labor to complete much of the site work.

Mr Belden and Mr Sibley expressed special appreciation for the work the Parks and Recreation Department completed on this project. Mr Belden said, “The Park and Rec staff came through in a big way. Park and Rec is dedicated; they worked much harder and much more…they’re a good bunch.” Recognizing all the volunteers who spent their time literally in the dirt finishing the planting and following maintenance, he said, “We literally packed two weeks of work into one week, and it’s a credit to those who are dedicated to the project.”

The need to begin restoration became urgent last month when an intense storm pushed through the area.

On May 16 a severe thunderstorm and heavy rains pummeled Newtown and Deep Brook overflowed, peeling pack patches of the lawn and biting chunks of soil off the bank in areas now stabilized.

A host of sources contributed to the Dickinson project. The US Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) has awarded the Trout Unlimited chapter with $121,000 for an entire Dickenson restoration project, which includes an upcoming phase in 2008 to resurface a tributary stream and replace a road culvert. The WHIP grant represents 75 percent of the restoration work. Approximately $38,000 worth of plants are being used, along with other stabilizing work, to fortify the bank.

A $15,000 grant comes from the Iroquois Gas Company’s Land Enhancement and Acquisition Fund (LEAF). Both the Newtown Tree Project and Trout Unlimited also contributed funds. The town also provided funds. During a previous interview, the Trout Unlimited chapter President James Belden had said, “We need to stabilize what we can.”

He has explained in the past that the trout habitat and aquatic life are disrupted by several factors tied to the bank erosion. When land along a river is cleared, the trees and other hearty species can no longer hold the soil in place. Heavy rainwaters, especially in areas of run-off spilling from pavement, will rush directly into water sources. In time, erosion chews away the banks and settles along the river bottom, impeding fish reproduction, for one.

Holmes Fine Gardens LLC provided some of the plantings and seed materials. Sarah Middeleer organized the plant design and placement.

(See related story about Deep Brook, this issue)