hog creek wetland and stream mitigation site
Leavenworth County, Kansas
The third restoration site established under the Kansas River and Missouri River Wetland and Stream Umbrella Mitigation Bank, this 67.31-acre mitigation site located along Hog Creek compensates for authorized impacts to wetlands and streams across most of northeastern Kansas.
​
​Historically, the site likely consisted of forested conditions along Hog Creek surrounded by bottomland woodlands with upland prairies on the rolling hillsides. Additionally, frequent flooding led to the development of a number of wetlands in the low lying and depressional areas on the site.
The conversion to agriculture resulted in the clearing of all of the site’s trees and the establishment of row crop farm fields across most of the property. Drainage was improved which eliminated most of the site’s wetlands. Additionally, two ephemeral streams were filled in. Finally, the regional land use change of the watershed from natural prairie and forested areas to farm fields increased the frequency and magnitude of stream flows which led Hog Creek and an intermittent stream channel to cut down and decrease floodplain connectivity. As a result, stream bank erosion and downstream sedimentation have increased.
​
Swallowtail addressed these impairments through the following activities:​​
-
Restoring or enhancing 47 acres of forested riparian buffers
-
Restoring 7 acres of emergent wetlands
-
Restoring more than 8 acres of wetland buffers and adjacent uplands
-
Re-establishing stream bed grade stability in Hog Creek by constructing rock riffle grade control structures
-
Restoring floodplain connectivity and reversing past incision on an intermittent stream by raising the bottom of the stream through regenerative stream restoration
-
Restoring previously eradicated portions of two ephemeral streams
​
The resulting increase in the quantity and quality of stream, riparian, and wetland ecosystems on this site will have a positive impact on the watershed, which consists of the downstream portions of the Kansas River and Missouri River in Kansas and includes the watersheds of the Kansas River, Missouri River, Delaware River, Wakarusa River, Stranger Creek, Blue River, and Vermillion Creek. Site construction was completed in 2019.