Restoring North Texas Streams to Historical Flows

North Texas is one of the fastest-growing regions in the state, an area that is expected to face increasing water needs. In order to meet these demands, the Upper Trinity Regional Water District (UTRWD) is building Lake Ralph Hall near Ladonia in southeast Fannin County, Texas.

The lake has been in the works since 2003, with construction finally beginning in 2021. The population of the UTRWD is expected to grow 5-fold over the next 50 years, leading to increased water use.

Ed Motley, Program Manager with the UTRWD stresses that even with conservation and reuse, new sources like Lake Ralph Hall are essential to meeting near-term and long-term water needs to support regional growth.

As part of the environmental mitigation efforts for Lake Ralph Hall, UTRWD has been working to restore five streams, which will help bring life back to these areas that were impacted by severe erosion and habitat loss for the past century. UTRWD partnered with Texas Mitigation Solutions (TMS) to create these new streams.

The new streams flowing with water. (Credit: Upper Trinity Regional Water District)

Five New Streams Flowing in North Texas

Historically, these streams were connected to the North Sulphur River but were disrupted by the channelization of the North Sulphur River by farmers in the 1920s, which led to massive erosion and destroyed quality habitat. The continued erosion has also resulted in local residents paying the price in bridge repairs and replacements.

The project restored the river’s tributaries to their historical flows and curved pathways before any human effects occurred (channelization), and over the last 16 months, 32,000 linear feet (just over six miles) of streams below Lake Ralph Hall’s Leon Hurse Dam were restored.

“The Lake Ralph Hall project included the construction of five new streams designed to restore natural hydrology and enhance ecological conditions in the area. These streams aim to improve water quality, reduce erosion, and provide habitats for wildlife, fish, and macroinvertebrates,” states Michelle Carte, Regulatory and Environmental Compliance Coordinator for UTRWD.

One of the streams under construction. (Credit: Upper Trinity Regional Water District)

TMS worked with Beaver Creek Hydrology to map and reconnect the North Sulphur River to five original tributaries. The crew used heavy equipment to shape the tributaries, removing soil to create a space for each tributary’s floodplain and adding bends to slow flow and reduce erosion. About 80% of the new channels follow the original floodplain.

According to TMS Construction Manager Dustin Fitzgerald, banks were stabilized with native vegetation, biodegradable matting, and willow stakes. Approximately 40,000 native trees were planted as part of this project to stabilize stream banks and improve soil health. Logs and gravel were also added to create riffles that support local wildlife by forming pools for frogs and bugs.

The project occurred during a particularly rainy spring, which made construction difficult on its own, but was further complicated by attempting to tie in the shallower streams into the main channel, which is 18 to 20 feet deeper.

“Once everything was tied in, we were just waiting for the rain to come and naturally fill the new streams,” said Fitzgerald.

The new streams just starting to flow with water. (Credit: Upper Trinity Regional Water District)

Expected Benefits of Stream Restoration near Lake Ralph Hall 

Now that the streams are filled with rainwater and flowing as they should, the team believes that the watershed will improve significantly, restoring critical habitats, improving water quality, and contributing to the water needs of the region.

“The lake itself will help slow the continued erosion downstream. The stream restoration will also help,” explained Motley. “It provides lost river habitat and will improve water quality immediately downstream.”

Some of the expected benefits of the restoration project should improve quickly, while others are expected to take years. According to Carte, the erosive, unstable condition of the river is anticipated to quickly improve “as the streams are reshaped and the old gullies are left as oxbows, resulting in a stable stream system after construction.”

Similarly, improved water flow is expected to follow shortly after construction. However, full ecological recovery is expected to take several years.

The streams were completed in the fall of 2024 and remained empty until they were filled by rainfall. (Credit: Upper Trinity Regional Water District)

Evaluating Success with Continuous Monitoring

Over the next seven years, TMS will continue to monitor the new streams and larger watershed to ensure that they function effectively and support the local ecosystem as planned. According to Carte, future monitoring efforts include assessing stream stability, proper stream geomorphology, vegetation growth, as well as water quality and wildlife habitats.

The success of the project will be evaluated over a number of years, but the team is already looking forward to seeing this region restored.

“It’s been a rewarding project,” said Fitzgerald. “Seeing these streams come back to life and knowing the positive impact it will have on the surrounding environment makes all the hard work worth it.”