Mechumps Creek Restoration Project
The population of Ashland, Virginia (Hanover County) has been steadily increasing for almost a
century, particularly since the construction of Interstate 95 in the late 1960s. The resulting
development has negatively affected Mechumps Creek due to the increase in impervious cover
(roads, parking lots, and roofs), which now accounts for approximately 33.5 percent of the
Mechumps creek watershed within the Ashland town limits. This increase has altered stream
flows during storms and caused extensive bank erosion and loss of aquatic and streamside
habitat. Moreover, because Ashland sits at the headwaters of the creek, these upstream
effects are propagated all the way to Chesapeake Bay.
Students and faculty at Randolph-Macon College have had a long and dedicated role in the
study of water quality and other environmental issues in the Mechumps Creek watershed,
much of it in partnership with the Town of Ashland, and other local, state, and federal agencies.
Moreover, because the College has been an Ashland institution for over a century, RandolphMacon has a tremendous stake in the continued, sustainable development of the town.
In accordance with the goals of the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement and in support of the
Mechumps Creek Watershed Management Plan developed by R-MC in 2003, we seek to restore
natural habitat in the 3,600 feet of stream located in Ashland. Currently, we have grants from
the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and from the Town of Ashland sufficient to restore
about 1,300 feet. An additional $150,000 is needed to restore all 3,600 feet.
Timely completion of this stream restoration project is critical because even more intensive
growth is about to occur in the Ashland area. Although the Town of Ashland requires
developers to implement stormwater management programs to mitigate the quantity of runoff
from sites with increased impervious area, restoration of the existing stream channel is
necessary to repair damage done previously, and also to further protect Mechumps Creek
during this time of new growth.
Long-term monitoring following restoration (10+ years starting in fall, 2010) will be conducted
by faculty and students at R-MC. Monitoring will include both quantification of physical habitat
(stream bank configurations and channel morphology) and biological responses (aquatic insect
and fish communities). We anticipate that the improved habitat will allow re-establishment of
near-natural populations of aquatic insects and fish, and that bank stabilization will prevent
approximately 2,200 tons of sediment, 5 tons of nitrogen and 2.5 tons of phosphorus from
reaching Chesapeake Bay over a 20 year period. Moreover, the creek will be used as a living
laboratory for Randolph-Macon College students who will monitor the physical and biological
effects of the restoration for at least the next 10 years. The project will also sustain the
excellent relationship that the Town of Ashland and R-MC have developed over the past decade
as we have worked together to address a variety of environmental challenges facing our
watershed.