The upper “j” (Bellwood upstream to Altoona) has a number of locations where the riverbank is badly eroded. This stretch of river is officially considered to be “Impaired” by DEP due to sedimentation and also from phosphorous pollution from two waste treatment facilties. The phosphorous problem is being addressed by AWA and by Antis Township, operator of the “Logan” plant. However, streambank erosion can only be addressed by identifying and repairing eroded banks, starting with the worst cases, one of which is located near Pinecroft, just upstream from the mouth of Sandy Run. Stream bank repair is labor intensive and expensive. On October 30th, 13 volunteers from LJRA and 3 from JKTU, joined forces to repair 100 feet of eroded bank some 7 ft high. They created outstanding trout habitat in the process. This project was funded using private donations from First Energy Foundation, Little Juniata River Association and the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds. The total cost was $14,500. Pictures taken yesterday (Saturday Oct. 30th) are on the LJRA Gallery under “The River”, “Stream Bank Restoration”. More pictures of the completed project will be abvailable on Manday Nov.1st. We will also post video to the LJRA Facebook page . A list of the 16 volunteers will be posted soon as well. Thanks to all!
Bill Anderson