Paint Creek Stream Restoration

Spicer Group was hired by the City of Rochester to design restoration improvements along 3,500 feet of Paint Creek in Downtown Rochester.  These improvements will ultimately benefit the in-stream fish population and improve water quality and recreational opportunities for local residents. The project is very unique because Paint Creek is a designated trout stream in the suburbs of Detroit and hosts populations of both brown and brook trout. It is a part of the Clinton River Coldwater Conservation Project—a regional effort to restore the trout fishery, improve water quality and establish an urban green corridor in the Clinton River watershed.

Project team members used a natural-channel design approach to restore riffles, runs, pools, and glides in the creek. Log vanes, rock vanes, boulder clusters with micro-pools, streambank shrub plantings, and a deeper thalweg channel were designed to improve temperature, cover, sediment transport and habitat. Gabions were partially removed, and streambanks were restored through the use of vegetation. The project was funded by a $750,000 National Fish and Wildlife Great Lakes Stewardship Grant.