Buck Run Restoration Site I and II

RES, on behalf of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC), provided a 21,000-linear foot stream restoration project in Washington County, providing mitigation for multiple stages of a Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission highway expansion. The PTC Project is within the Ohio River Subbasin (HUC 05030106) and under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Pittsburgh District and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Southwest Region.

The mitigation activities associated with the PRM Sites were performed along Buck Run and its headwater tributaries within FPR’s BRI/II Restoration Sites. The restoration site provided functional benefits such as stream and floodplain connectivity improvements, fish and macroinvertebrate habitat, flood flow conveyance and alteration, nutrient removal/retention, invasive species removal, and long-term land protection. The site also supported the development of a healthy ecosystem, replacing functions and values lost due to the PTC highway expansion. The tributaries are designated as high-quality warm water fisheries (HQ-WWF) (PADEP, 2019). Successful execution of the restoration activities resulted in restoring and enhancing the functions and values of the streams/wetlands/riparian areas within the BRRS I/II.