As part of a continuing program to ensure that water flows effectively through a portion of Beaver Creek near Seneca Reservoir, woody debris and several beaver dams have been removed this summer from the creek on property managed by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District.
MWCD personnel recently spent several days identifying and removing obstructions along the Beaver Creek in the area immediately upstream from the intersection of Rts. 313 and 147. A total of nine snags, numerous low overhanging tree limbs, several beaver dams and other material was removed from the Beaver Creek.
“This is the third major obstruction removal project since 1998 that has been conducted by the MWCD along the Beaver Creek,” said Mark Jukich, MWCD manager of operations. “This area also is a targeted location for the MWCD beaver trapping program since 1998, helping ensure that potential blockages in the creek are kept to a minimum.”
The Beaver Creek watershed has endured periodic flooding over the years, primarily related to land use practices in the watershed and the lack of gradient immediately upstream of Seneca Lake, Jukich said. The MWCD is committed to removing debris, beaver dams and managing the beaver population in the Beaver Creek area through annual reviews of the region, he added.
In 1998, the MWCD, with cooperation from Noble County commissioners and the Guernsey-Muskingum-Noble Tri-County Community Action Committee, successfully obtained funding for the original obstruction removal project. Numerous workers displaced by flooding earlier in the year were employed for a multi-week program that led to the removal of woody and inorganic debris, beaver dams and other obstructions from the creek.
A two-day obstruction removal project also was completed in 2003.
The MWCD has proposed spending more than $7.3 million on similar debris removal projects in streams and tributaries in the Muskingum River Watershed over a 20-year period beginning in 2007, as part of a $270-million watershed renewal and maintenance program. MWCD officials have met with public officials in all 18 counties of its jurisdiction and is working with them to identify potential projects in debris removal and various other improvements that could occur in their counties as part of the watershed plan.
Seneca Reservoir is one of 16 reservoirs in the Muskingum River Watershed flood reduction system originally constructed in the 1930s. Since its inception, the system has been credited for saving about $6 billion in potential property damage and saving countless lives.
More information about the MWCD system – including the full watershed renewal and maintenance plan – is available online at www.mwcd.org.
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