This grant funded the major bank stabilization project along the West Fork Red River, a large rain garden, a prairie restoration project, riparian tree plantings, river access control measures, pet waste stations, educational signage, and events such as river cleanups, rain barrel sales, public presentations, and K-12 education.
Each project addresses nonpoint sources (water pollution originating from many sources) to the West Fork Red River, a 47-mile long tributary to the Red River that flows through TN and KY.
West Fork of the Red River: An Outstanding River in Kentucky and Tennessee
The West Fork Red River is a 47-mile long river that flows south from Kentucky to Tennessee and is recognized as both a KY Outstanding State Resource Water and a TN Exceptional Water. As it meanders south, it passes by Robert Clark Park, Billy Dunlop Park, the Clarksville Speedway and Fairgrounds, the Pollard Rd Greenway, and the North Ford Street Mountain Bike Park Trailhead. Each of these parks and community gathering spaces host recreational activities for community members including hiking, kayaking, tubing, and biking. This special river is not only a popular place for recreationists, but it is also a wonderful resource for wildlife and provides habitat for a variety of animal, plant, and aquatic species.
Impairments at the West Fork of the Red River
The water quality of the river is monitored by both the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet. Currently, some sections of the river are considered impaired because of excessive nutrients, sediment, and habitat alterations.
Excess sediment, or dirt, that washes into the river from construction or agriculture can smother the homes of aquatic organisms.Habitat alterations encompass many different alterations to a stream that can harm the features that aquatic and terrestrial life need to survive; often, habitat alterations refer to the destruction or degradation of vegetated stream buffers (ie riparian buffers), stream and river channel straightening, dams, and more. Pollutants, habitat alterations, and other factors that render streams unhealthy for aquatic life and people are all considered impairments.
Watershed Planning and Funding
The Cumberland River Compact (the Compact) began working with the Clarksville Parks Department in early 2019 to identify opportunities to improve the health of the river while simultaneously meeting the Parks Department’s conservation goals. The riverfront at Billy Dunlop Park was selected as a high-priority project site due to the severe river bank erosion, which presented a safety hazard to park users and compounded the West Fork Red River’s siltation impairment.
The Compact evaluated several funding avenues to address the erosion at Billy Dunlop Park, and after speaking with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA), it was determined that the best funding source for this project would likely be the TDA 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution Grant Program. This program is administered in TN by TDA on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency and is funded through section 319 of the Clean Water Act. This program aims to address nonpoint sources of pollution through non-regulatory, voluntary, and incentive-based adoption of practices that help prevent or control nonpoint source pollution before it enters local waterways. Nonpoint source pollution originates from many disparate sources such as runoff from parking lots, roads, agricultural fields, construction sites, and more.
To apply for funding under this grant program, the watershed was required to have an approved Watershed-Based Plan to demonstrate that any work completed would tangibly benefit water quality and effectively allocate federal funding. A Watershed-Based Plan is a document that assesses the existing conditions of a watershed, its streams’ impairments, why they are impaired, and what actions would need to be taken to return the streams to a healthy state. The Compact developed this plan in 2019 and 2020 by studying stream sampling data and cross-referencing it with geographic information system (GIS) data and site visits throughout the watershed. It was approved by the TDA and the EPA in mid-2020.
Project Execution
This West Fork Red River watershed plan laid out a multi-phased path to restoration, and the Compact acquired funding to implement the best management practices (BMPs) recommended in the plan’s first phase: river bank stabilization, riparian plantings, rain gardens, prairie restoration, dog waste stations, access control, and community education.
River Bank Stabilization
Stream and river bank erosion is a significant source of sediment and can result in the loss of land and threaten infrastructure. Rivers and streams naturally shift as they meander and respond to storm events, but in disturbed watersheds and river systems where there is significant development and agriculture, this delicate balance is disrupted. The surrounding land use changes the amount of runoff and groundwater that feeds into streams throughout the year. This can result in extreme bank erosion as the stream responds to these changes. Oftentimes, intervention is needed to help stabilize the systems and protect land and infrastructure. Often people use hard armoring to protect banks from erosion. Hard armoring is a technique using stone (rip rap), concrete, or wire baskets filled with rocks (gabion baskets) to cover erosion prone areas and protect them from the erosive force of water. This method is not ideal, as it often fails over time, prevents riparian vegetation from growing, and fails to slow and reduce the force of water, which ends up passing the problem downstream.
The Compact worked with the City of Clarksville and KCI Technologies to stabilize over 500 feet of the banks of the West Fork Red River at Billy Dunlop Park. These bioengineering techniques stabilize the bank using natural features, such as regrading the banks to make their slopes more gentle, laying biodegradable matting to prevent erosion, and planting native trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses to anchor soil in place. Additionally, the banks were engineered to reduce the force of water and encourage sediment deposition. Three locations along the river at Billy Dunlop Park were selected for stabilization due to their steep slopes and public safety concerns. The engineering plans and permits were approved in 2022 and 2023. Construction was completed in July of 2023 and the banks were planted with saplings and live stakes in December of 2023.
Riparian Planting
In February of 2024, the Compact worked with the Clarksville Parks Department to plant 110 1” caliper (~4 – 6 feet tall), native trees along the banks at Billy Dunlop Park to expand the rivers riparian buffer and beautify the park. A riparian buffer is a green area along a stream or river, usually with trees, shrubs, and native plants. These special areas are important because they stop the banks from eroding, give homes to animals, filter out pollutants, offer shade for fish and insects, and lessen the damage from floods. Healthy streams and rivers have riparian buffers that are 50-100 feet wide, but even a smaller buffer is better than having none! Local volunteers helped the Compact to plant bald cypress, tulip poplar, bur oak, serviceberry, crabapple, and sweetbay magnolia, expanding the riparian buffer by 1 acre in total.
Rain Garden
To complement the riparian projects located at Billy Dunlop Park, CRC constructed a rain garden near the Billy Dunlop Park pavilion to capture runoff generated from the pavilion’s roof and the paved road adjacent to the pavilion. A rain garden is a shallow depression excavated and planted with native flowers, grasses, and shrubs. They are designed to capture stormwater runoff generated from roofs, parking lots, and other impervious, hard surfaces and filter out any pollutants that runoff picks up as it flows over land. The rain garden constructed at the pavilion is 600 square feet and was planted with Niagara Fall Switchgrass (Panicum) , Uptick Yellow and Red (Coreopsis), October Skies Aster (Symphyotrichum), and David Garden Phlox (Phlox). The project was completed in late April 2024 by Compact staff and volunteers from the local community.
Prairie Restoration
A large, 4,700 square foot prairie restoration project was completed at the Pollard Road Trailhead in late April 2024 to intercept runoff from an adjacent parking lot. Native grasses and flowers have much deeper root systems compared to typical turf grass, and they help soak up and filter runoff before it enters a waterway or storm drain. For this project, the Compact first stripped the area of its nonnative turf grass with a sod stripping machine, layered the bare dirt with 3 inches of mulch. Then 1000 plant plugs of Sideoats grama (Bouteloua), Switchgrass (Panicum), Purple Dome New England Aster (Symphyotrichum), Goldsturm Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), and Fireworks Goldenrod (Solidago) were planted. Once this strip of native grasses and flowers becomes more established, it will effectively slow, soak up, and filter stormwater runoff generated from the adjacent parking lot.
Dog Waste Stations
Dog waste stations are an important part of keeping nearby waterways clean and safe to recreate in. During rain events, runoff will carry pathogens like E. Coli from improperly disposed dog waste to streams and waterways. In areas like Nashville, a significant amount of E. Coli impairments in streams have been linked to dog waste! The best way dog owners can prevent pathogens from being carried into local waterways is to pick up after their dogs and dispose of the waste properly. The Compact worked with the Clarksville Parks Department to install three dog waste stations in Billy Dunlop Park and the Pollard Road Greenway, making it easier for dog owners to pick up their waste and dispose of it appropriately.
Access Control
Billy Dunlop Park is a popular destination for many Clarksville residents, and many weekends at the park are filled with community members utilizing the kayak access, using the park’s pavilion and playground, or swimming and fishing in the West Fork Red River. Though often unintentional, the excessive vehicle traffic can tear up ground cover and make erosion worse at the park. Additionally, vehicle encroachment on the riparian buffer can damage trees, shrubs, and plants protecting the river banks. The Compact worked with the Parks Department to purchase and install bollards along the road, protecting the riparian buffer from damage and preventing erosion in the park’s green spaces.
Community Education
A major component of the West Fork Red River watershed restoration project included community outreach and education. Though the physical projects installed as part of this grant directly benefit water quality, behavioral changes complement these projects and help residents understand how their actions affect water quality.
The Compact and the Clarksville Parks and Recreation Department printed and installed three educational signs at Billy Dunlop Park. The signs are located along the riparian zone and highlight the restoration project, general information about riparian zones, and changes that can be made at home to improve water quality. The Compact also hosted two rain barrel sales and a public educational event to talk about stormwater runoff, water quality, and other water quality improvements such as building rain gardens, landscaping with native plants, picking up trash, picking up dog waste, and leaving a “No Mow Zone” around their stream. As part of these educational events, the Compact demonstrated the EPA’s How’s My Waterway mapping tool that shows residents how to learn more about the health of their local streams.
To reach younger residents, the Compact worked with local schools to educate students directly with educational programming about stormwater and freshwater ecosystems. Several teacher training events were held to provide educators with the tools and resources they need for lesson planning about aquatic ecosystems.
Finally, the Compact partnered with local organizations like the Sierra Club of Clarksville to either host or support four cleanups in the project area, removing 54 bags of trash from the watershed. Among all volunteer events during the project period, a total of 104 volunteers were engaged through cleanups, tree plantings, rain gardening, and prairie planting.
Project Completion and Summary
These activities conclude the first phase of the West Fork Red River Restoration project; there are two subsequent phases listed in the watershed-based plan that address other parts of the watershed.
Though the activities completed as part of Phase 1 will positively affect water quality in the West Fork Red River, there are still ample opportunities to implement water-quality-improving practices throughout the watershed, many of which can be adopted by residents, businesses, religious institutions, schools, and more. To find out about what residents can do to improve water quality, visit the Compact’s website for more information. The City of Clarksville also has a Healthy Yards Program that residents can visit for more information about native landscaping.
To find the quality of a river or stream near you, visit https://mywaterway.epa.gov/ for more information.
This cooperative project has been funded, in part, by an agreement with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Nonpoint Source Program, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
