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The site of a Rockford Homes' proposed residential development in Hilliard (Franklin County) was traversed by Clover Croft Run, an old agricultural drainage ditch that is designated by Ohio EPA as a modified warmwater habitat stream. The developer had to negotiate through federal, state and local regulations pertaining to the stream and floodplain. Seeking technical assistance, the developer's consulting engineer was directed to DSWR. Although many stream restoration practices exist, they were developed principally for salmon and trout habitat and are entirely inappropriate for naturally wet, flat, prairie landscapes such as at the Rockford Homes property.
Instead, Rockford Homes implemented an ecologically engineered design approach developed by DSWR and The Ohio State University that produced a number of benefits: 1) reduced flood damage risk at the Rockford Homes property and downstream, 2) increased water purification, 3) provided Clover Croft Run with additional floodplain that is now a wetland stream that fits the landscape, 4) created a new wetland stream area that also meets the developer's open space requirements, 5) increased the value of the residential lots around the restored site and 6) provided needed fill material at no cost, resulting in the developer feeling that money was actually made by doing this restoration. Rockford Homes has made the property available for research monitoring and spoken at several workshops.
Stream flow from Clover Groff Run is now diverted to an active floodplain (see arrows), reducing and cleaning water going downstream.
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Project site location in western Franklin County.
Finished project, looking east over Clover Groff Run.
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