Why is this Watershed Special?

Half a million people in three states depend on drinking water from the Christina River Basin because it provides 75 percent of the water supply for New Castle County, Delaware, and 40 percent of the water supply for Chester County, Pennsylvania.

This diverse landscape is drained by four rivers that ultimately flow into the Delaware Estuary at Wilmington, Delaware. Its four sub-watersheds include: Brandywine Creek, Red Clay Creek, White Clay Creek and the Christina River. These sub-watersheds combine to make a rural, yet rapidly suburbanizing main watershed covering 565 square miles in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Land uses in this watershed are approximately 34 percent urban/suburban, 35 percent forested/open space, and 31percent agriculture. Several neotropical bird species and a broad array of wildlife inhabit the region, including the bog turtle, cerulean warbler, long-tailed salamander, and bald eagle.

Status: To date, work has focused on grant administration, outreach activities, site selection, monitoring and, more recently, completion of the following on-the-ground projects:

• One stormwater retrofit project at Ashbridge Square in East Caln Township, Pennsylvania
• Survey work for three nutrient-management control systems in Chester County, Pennsylvania
• Treatment of 500 acres of cropland per a nutrient-management plan in Chester County, Pennsylvania
• Stabilization/reforestation of 1,200 linear feet of stream bank on Ludwig Creek, a headwater to Brandywine Creek
• Five water-control structures (two small basins and three crossings) in Chester County, Pennsylvania
• Four nutrient-management plans
• One rain garden along Cool Run, a tributary to the White Clay Creek National Wild and Scenic River in Newark, Delaware
• Stream restoration along 5,000 linear feet of Pike Creek in New Castle County, Delaware, including the creation of three acres of wetlands and five acres of riparian corridor using native plants
• The restoration of 350 linear feet of stream along a tributary to the Red Clay Creek in New Castle County, Delaware
• 25 SMARTYARD projects
• Site selection for seven wetland projects at the University of Delaware’s Agriculture Complex

Project Highlights:

Upper Pike Creek Stream Restoration – Three Little Bakers Golf Course

Making it the largest stream restoration project in Delaware’s history, this project includes the restoration of 5,000 feet of Pike Creek's stream channel and adjacent bank, which is part of the National Wild and Scenic River System. This project will also introduce meandering bends and streamside wetlands. In addition, it will stabilize the stream bed and bank, create riffle-pool sequences, and increase riparian buffer habitat. Additional stream feet along this site were restored using funding from other sources, such as EPA’s Clean Water Act Section 319(h) Nonpoint Source Program.

Rain Garden Stormwater Retrofit at the University of Delaware

The design and installation of a rain garden is being used to treat and recharge stormwater that flows into the headwaters of Cool Run, a tributary to the White Clay Creek National Wild and Scenic River. The rain garden encompasses 4,000 square feet and has the capacity to hold 15,000 cubic feet of water runoff from surrounding impervious surfaces. Six, four-inch diameter cores have been cut through the underlying clay and filled in with stones to increase the rate of infiltration.