PROJECTS:
Watershed Improvements
Removal of Impediments to Fish Passage
One of Fourmile’s most distinctive characteristics is that it includes numerous impediments in the stream. There are two existing dams, one located near the mouth at the Lawrence Park Golf Course, and a second located immediately south of Station Road. There is also a waterfall that is approximately five feet tall, and which is located about mid-point between Cooper Road and I-90, on which has been placed about one foot of concrete that is about three feet wide along the entire breadth of the waterfall, thereby creating a dam-like structure.
Efforts are now underway to remove or alter these impediments for the purpose of returning the stream to a more natural flow, and also to improve the ability of fish to pass from the mouth toward the upper reaches of the stream. Funds are being provided by the Iroquois School District, which is in the process of constructing a new school that will require the realignment and piping of a small tributary to Fourmile Creek. The School District has been asked by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to pay $20,000 to mitigate the encapsulation of this waterway, and half of that fee must be directly applied to improvements within Fourmile Creek. As such, these funds will be used to remove the Nacopoulos property dam near Station Road, and the cap on the concrete-covered waterfall located on the Penn State Behrend campus.
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is currently in the process of obtaining the permits necessary for removal of these impediments, and developing the design drawings necessary to bid this project to a local contractor. These two impediment removal projects are expected take place during summer of 2007. PASG has provided technical assistance to the PFBC on these projects.
Efforts are also underway between the Lawrence Park Golf Club and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission to modify the golf course dam to allow improved fish passage. Fish ladders are proposed to be installed at this dam and at the
waterfall located between the dam and Route 5. PA Sea Grant prepared two grant applications which would fund the design, and the purchase and installation of two fish ladders at these two locations. The first application was prepared on behalf of Lawrence Park Township for DCNR funds, and the second application was prepared on behalf of the PFBC. Together these funds total $105,000. If funded, these ladders will be designed and installed in 2008.
All of these improvements may very well result in Fourmile Creek being returned to a condition that will enable fish migration. These efforts will benefit the local tourism industry. But more importantly, these changes will clearly illustrate that the Erie area cares about improving its quality of life by improving the quality of its environment.
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