Enlow Fork Stream Mitigation Bank

This project aims to restore and preserve self-sustaining, functional streams, wetlands, and riparian corridors, with the implementation of a watershed scale restoration approach.

In accordance with these goals, the team strived to replace the functions and values lost from adverse impacts on streams and wetland areas due to various permitted development projects within the Ohio River Subbasin (Pennsylvania State Water Plan Subbasin 20). The site’s development efforts provided in-kind replacement for the direct loss or functional degradation of stream and wetland resources that result from unavoidable aquatic resource impacts. Secondary service areas in adjacent State Water Plan Subbasins or eight-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) subbasins may be permitted on a case-by-case basis.

The restoration efforts have focused on the creation of an integrated and dynamic stream and floodplain system; restoring localized groundwater aquifers, reconnecting floodplains to the water table and streams, optimizing and diversifying habitat while also creating a hydrologic system that allows for the retention of nutrients, stream bed material, and organic carbon. The design approach provided the basis for the continued evolution of ecological complexity and long-term stability.