East Park water nears completion

Squaw Creek at East Park will now stand up stronger to erosion.

Hampton Public Works Director Doug Tarr said “substantial completion” has been made on a project to curb erosion issues and improve water quality on the stretch of the stream through East Park.

In November, crews removed 30 trees from the area that were threatening the integrity of nearby utilities due to erosion. The tree removal was part of an extensive project to install boulder barriers and plant new vegetation to assist with water filtration.

Tarr said a majority of the project was funded through returns on the State Revolving Loan Funding program, which needed to be used for water quality improvement projects.

With the stone barriers in place, Tarr said the only step left is to seed grass along the banks and plant vegetation in the water in the spring.

“They have their structures in place and what’s left, there will be some seeding to take place in the spring to put in natural filters throughout that area,” he said. “They did a really good job, it looks nice down there.”

Tarr said that although the vegetation won’t be planted until the spring, the project will prove to be an immediate asset to the area.

“We’ll see an immediate benefit,” he said. “If we get a three or four inch rain and the creek comes up, it’ll do its job. We’re going to see the structures put in place do its job.”

He added that vegetation installation will show improvements to the water quality shortly after it’s established.

“We’ll see that within three months of planting,” he said. “By summer, it should be full-fledged flowing and ready to go.”

As the grass grows back and the area awaits the final touches, Tarr said he encourages the public to view the improvements but do so from a safe distance. Excessive traffic on the area can damage work done and impede any potential improvements of the project.

“Erosion control is very expensive and the city wouldn’t want to pay any extra to have it replaced,” he said. “We’re just asking that folks respect the area and look at it from a distance and stay away from it right now.”