The South Buffalo Creek Habitat and Water Quality Improvement Project was a 56-acre project located between Meadowview Road and I-40, near Randleman Road. The project was designed to reconnect South Buffalo Creek with its original floodplain to spread out and slow down the stream flow while filtering sediment and pollutants.

High velocity stream flow during storms have caused severe erosion of the main channel and adjacent tributaries, so this project disconnects and reroutes some of those tributaries back onto the floodplain. This will reduce the erosion and offer water quality treatment through natural processes.

The project also integrates wetland sloughs adjacent to the main channel that spread out and slow down the stream while adding a variety of wetland plants to enhance wildlife habitat and water quality treatment. View the project map.

The South Buffalo Creek Habitat and Water Quality Improvement Project was constructed in four phases from 2013-18. All four phases were built with assistance from a partnership and grant funding from Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF). 

• Phase I of the South Buffalo Habitat and Water Quality Improvement Project was built in 2013 thanks to a $710,270 grant. Phase I was located on the north side of the creek and focused on the relocation of the Kersey Tributary onto the floodplain, continuing the Spring Valley Stream Restoration Project further downstream to South Buffalo Creek, building a wetland slough and stabilizing eroded stream banks.

• Phase II was built in 2015 using a $524,363 grant and focused on building additional wetland sloughs.

• Phase III was built in 2016 with a grant of $667,485 and focused on another wetland slough, tributary restoration, and stream bank stabilization.

• Phase IV focused on the main channel of South Buffalo Creek and incorporated stream bank stabilization techniques and habitat creation with the main channel using natural features like rock and log vanes and integrated riffle/pool sequences. This phase was built in 2018 using a $495,523 grant.

CWMTF was established in 1996 to help finance projects that enhance or restore degraded waters, protect unpolluted waters and drinking water supplies, and/or contribute toward a network of riparian buffers and green ways of environmental, educational and recreational benefits.