A stream restoration project at Dickinson Park, funded primarily through grants, included several phases of work ending with streamside plantings in recent days. Native shrubs and trees now line the banks of the waterway within the Elm Drive-Brushy Hill Road town park.

In the past year the waterway itself, which had previously been piped below ground, was brought to the surface. A meandering stone stream bed had been installed in a field at the park, carrying water from a nearby wetlands to Deep Brook, which cuts across the park.

With the project now complete, including the 300 trees and plants in place, the Parks and Recreation Department plans to install signs. Recreation staff recently told selectmen that the area is environmentally sensitive, and the planted buffer will need time to mature and eventually add shade to the stream. Parks and Recreation crews completed the planting.

Grant funds from the Natural Resource and Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) and in-kind work from town crews and volunteers contributed to this project. The NRCS is a branch of the United States Department of Agriculture. Nagy Brothers Construction Co. Inc was awarded the contract for its bid of roughly $217,000 for the project.

Also involved in the work was Candlewood Valley Trout Unlimited (CVTU), Newtown’s Land Use Agency and Public Works Department, Todd Bobowick with NRCS, town employees, and volunteers.

Earlier this month, friends Patti Noone and Heidrun Morgan walked with young children in their care. They stopped along the stream to watch the running water before the children rushed across the open field.