Regional Project Profile
Awbury Arboretum Watershed Restoration Project  

Category: Implemented Retrofit Design   
Type of BMP: vegetated swale, restoration of riparian buffer and naturalized areas

| Description | Location | Partners | Cost | Contact |
 

The landscape preserved by the Awbury Arboretum is important because a spring located on the grounds is a first-order tributary to the Wingohocking Creek, which is otherwise completely buried under the urban infrastructure of the city. Found at Washington Lane and Chew Street in Philadelphia, this project site provides the highly prized amenity of urban green space.

Site attributes include: a natural spring-fed stream, a wetland, ponds, a riparian buffer zone, and meadows. Obstructions preventing the natural flow of the spring were removed, and an infiltration swale was installed along Washington Lane. Native plants were added to enhance the meadow and other areas suffering from degradation. The restoration of the site’s natural features promotes the capture and filtering of stormwater runoff to reduce flooding, and also aids with pollutant mitigation by filtering runoff prior to entering a nearby waterway. An additional improvement was to thin existing vegetation along the stream path to enhance lighting on the path.

The Awbury Arboretum Watershed Restoration Project was begun in July 2002 and was completed in June of 2006.
 

Meadow planted with native species
Photo Credit: D. Fabry

County:         Philadelphia
Watershed:   Tacony-Frankford Creek


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Awbury Arboretum
Biohabitats, Inc.
Delaware RiverKeeper Network
Fairmount Park Commission
Philadelphia Water Department, Office of Watersheds
US Fish & Wildlife Service