Popping over to the Lehigh County Authority’s website, a masterpiece of modern art can be seen. A beautiful painting of water connections and drinking supply spread is laid out in a pretty font on a bright blue page and if you look hard enough, a fuzzy pink bunny or two. The reality of the project that is painted so delicately and prettily on that site is far different.
It would see Cedar Creek (Beach) Parkway can’t catch a break. Over the last few years there have been project after project requiring ecologic disturbance and upheaval to create new park amenities, for better or mostly, for worse. This latest disturbance completely takes the cake for park destruction though. Crews from the LCA came through the park, removed trees and grass and dug a massive hole to lay a water line in from one end of the park to the other. 
Then, they rolled through there with heavy machinery like marshmallow peep stuffed kids making a beeline for presents on Christmas morning. The result of this project now that it is finished is a legacy of damage for the park. Soil compaction, long an issue at this park – especially because there exists little to no proper riparian buffer for the majority of creek bank here, has been intensified and has rendered the south side of the creek a highway for non-point source pollution (stormwater). 
Mercifully, as you can see in the pictures below, the Ferngully-esque villainy of the LCA spared my research site at the west end of the park by just a couple feet. They did kill one of my signs though. 
The dug up soil has been filled in, primarily with junk fill. You can see the silver remnants of rock and specks of gravel peeking through the widespread hay throughout the entire run of destruction. The tracks of the machines they used to cause this damage have left so many ruts throughout the park, it looks like a Monster Truck rally had occurred. The ruts even destroyed parts of the macadam path that was created the last time the Park was torn apart by construction. 
Walking past the new destruction, the old problems plaguing this park appear as prevalent as ever. The ridiculously wet conditions of 2011 have further exposed the glaring need for proper riparian restoration in the park as the creekbanks have been eroded more substantially and channeled worse than ever. Streams are meant to wind folks, in order to create the riffles, runs and pools needed to sustain the proper variety of habitat for invertebrate and vertebrate life. Channeled streams are bad news and, they also lead to more erosion. 
This exponential function of natural destruction will only be worsened by the LCA project that has just finished up. Looking at this section of Cedar Creek Parkway, there was very little to be happy about ecologically or aesthetically. The long needed riparian restoration, that through root development would actually hold the creek bank in place while creating wildlife habitat for native organisms, is still absent here and the park is beginning to seriously suffer for it. 
Previous restoration attempts that cannot work without riparian vegetation show where the creek bank used to be just a decade or so ago:
Riparian restoration is a visually stunning and beautiful thing when done correctly. Yes, it would appear different than the parks have here in Allentown. Yes, it would be a change of pace for some park visitors. Now, though, the need for it is more apparent than ever. This creek – part of our drinking water source – is in a bad way and it is getting worse. The needed restoration has not been implemented because of a continued public outcry whenever the grass is left to grow more than a few inches high. If change is to come at Cedar Beach, if we are to see the park survive, we need to ask for that change to occur. 
I am hoping that my venture to the other side of the creek for Part 2 of my new Cedar Beach park log yields more favorable observations but you and I both know what it is that I am going to find. After three years, my first park log has been entirely about witnessed destruction. Let’s hope they aren’t all focused like this one has been. Fingers crossed.
#1 by michael molovinsky on January 31, 2012 - 3:48 am
andrew, the lca project is worse than you imagine. the pipeline feeds the bottling companies in macungie. ocean spray will now build there; their discharge is so toxic, they chose to move here, rather than upgrade their new jersey plant to current epa standards. the parks are just plumbing for the county, and recreation for the city. forget nature.
#2 by michael molovinsky on February 1, 2012 - 6:53 am
andrew, in all the heat of 2009, nobody ever said that they would pave the rose gardens, they did pave all the paths, and they added more paved paths.
#3 by treehugger on February 11, 2012 - 1:35 pm
Andrew, did you ever think of making a powerpoint presentation of these pictures to share with Allentown City Council?
#4 by Andrew Kleiner on February 11, 2012 - 1:47 pm
Hello!
Thanks for reading!
I have spoken to Council members about these issues on and off for a few years. Last Fall, as an EAC member, I gave our Annual Report presentation to Council and in addition to summarizing all the outreach events that I organize and run; I gave a detailed update on park issues like these. This LCA project was going to happen “no matter what” from what I have been told and as far as the other problems go, I usually get a “We’ll look into it” with no results or further investigation or concern.
I have also invited Council members, at their leisure and convenience, to join me at any park, any time, for an in-person ecologic examination.
Up until this year, I had been sending the City Clerk event notifications for my events for distribution to Council and administration and no one has every shown up.
Perhaps, I will keep trying though, I think that the best way to see any positive changes happen – or for the positive things I have been posting about on here of late to continue – the best route to achieving these goals is through public education and continued outreach. (Fingers crossed)
- Andrew