(Cherry Hill’s DeCou Run, a tributary to the North Branch of the Cooper River that flows through the area’s parkland, has been a victim of significant erosion in recent years. The stream’s destabilization has attracted the attention of the Cherry Hill Environmental Advisory Committee (CHEAC), the Township’s Department of Public Works, and, most recently, the Camden County Soil Conservation District (CCSCD), which is now launching a project aimed at rehabilitating the waterway before the increased sediment racing through the gully further damages stream beds and creates new flood plains.

With traumatic ecological, aesthetic, and recreational impacts to the region’s wetlands, wildlife habitats and parks looming, the CCSCD’s current restoration initiative will reduce downstream sediment loading, allowing the tributary to recover and, hopefully, thrive, with the help of ongoing observation and maintenance.

The CCSCD contends that sediment reductions of approximately 280,000 kg per year will be realized as a result of the proposed work, which includes the restoration of DeCou Run’s severely eroding gully into an ecologically functioning and aesthetically pleasing headwater stream; the connection of the restored stream to an adjacent floodplain forest; and the stabilization of erosive patches of soil encroaching upstream toward DeCou.

Together, the integrated endeavors – guided by CHEAC, the Department of Environmental Protection, and engineering consultant AKRF, Inc. – should improve the aesthetic and ecological quality of DeCou Run, enhancing the recreational and conservational values of the parkland while preventing future flooding. And, being that it’s in-line with the county’s Cooper River Regional Stormwater Management Plan, the project as well as the plan for ongoing preventative monitoring comes at no cost to the Township.