Wild trout are multiplying in part of Watson Creek in Buckingham, and the township supervisors on Wednesday were honored for their part in making that possible.

Buckingham Township and the Bucks County Chapter of Trout Unlimited earned kudos for cleaning up a portion of the creek to improve the natural trout population.

The Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve Land Ethics Award was presented at Wednesday night’s board of supervisors meeting.

Zoning officer Rich Meyers called the award a “pleasant surprise."

“Trout Unlimited has really spearheaded this project and continues to maintain it,” said Meyers.

The habitat restoration project is located along Watson Creek on the former Lindquist property along Route 263, now owned by the township.

It evolved out of a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Delaware Estuary grant to assess the potential to restore a cold water fishery within the Mill Creek Watershed. Watson and Lahaska creeks are the two major tributaries joining to become Mill Creek south of Buckingham at None Such Farm.

The project involved removing a small irrigation dam, stabilizing 500 feet of eroding stream bank and planting trees along 1,500 feet of the creek’s bank. The work was done in 2009.

Since then, the site has been used as an outdoor classroom by Centennial and Council Rock school districts. Classes also participated in Bucks County Trout Unlimited’s “Trout in the Classroom” project that involved raising trout in school and then releasing them into the Watson Creek site.

The $42,000 grant was supplemented with another $59,000 from matching funds and in-kind contributions provided by various participants.

Aside from BCTU support, other benefactors included:

• Giles and Ransome Equipment of Bensalem, providing heavy equipment and operators;
• TreeVitalize, providing plant material;
• Bucks County Conservation District, providing technical support; and
• Princeton Hydro of Ringoes, NJ, providing design and permits.

Joe Mihok, Trout Unlimited conservation chairman, praised township officials for their participation in the project.

“Trout Unlimited’s mission is preserving and restoring habitats for wild trout. We’re all about making streams healthier,” said Mihok.

“Wild trout streams in Bucks County are relatively rare. There are only about five watersheds and this is the furthest south,” he added.

The improvements also result in cleaner water in the stream, he said.

Supervisor Henry Rowan asked how big the trout were getting.

Mihok answered that he has seen trout as big as 13 inches.

“It’s quite a healthy stream,” he said. “Thanks to you, they’ll be there in the future.”

The plaque will be displayed at the Buckingham Township Building.