Foster Creek Stream Restoration

The Foster Creek Restoration Project is a multi-year and multi-phase effort of the Mills River Partnership spearheaded by Executive Director Maria Wise in conjunction with Living Web Farms and a team of biologists, local farmers, and other supporters of the Mills River watershed. This large-scale endeavor is to re-establish the original meandering flow that Foster Creek had before it was forced into a straightened path to increase farmland and follow the roadway. Water does not flow in a straight line but naturally makes its way across the land in spirals and curves. Straight streams cause numerous problems such as soil erosion, flooding, stream ecosystem disruption, siltation, loss of habitat, and harm to the local watershed among other things. Restored streams have an initial period of disruption to reconstruct the curvature emulating the original path of nature as much as possible. They soon grow into beautifully restored stream ecosystems with a variety of perennial plants deeply rooting into the banks that support biodiversity such as insects, invertebrates, birds, and small mammals as you will see in this exemplary project. From start to finish, see our preparations, plant selections and cultivation, aerial footage, biologists’ scientific observations, insights from engineers, and much more. Learn about the Mills River Partnership at www.millsriverwater.org.