Ricky Park has been known for its sogginess after wet days.
The township park off Clauser Road in Upper Macungie Township has a handful of low-lying areas where rainwater gathers and — with no place for it to flow — often overstays its welcome, creating a spongy surface that squelches underfoot for days on end.
But where some saw Ricky Park’s penchant for wetness as a problem, the local Sierra Club saw an opportunity: help create the wetland habitat that’s naturally emerging.
With a $15,000 wildlife grant, the Sierra Club’s Lehigh Valley Group set to work diverting a pipe along Clauser Road, taking the water roughly 180 feet into Ricky Park, where club members built a lined pond. Water typically flows into the pond at 10-30 gallons a minute and works its way into the pond’s V shape.
A wetland acts as a sponge to sop up and filter water so it’s possible it could help lessen park flooding, but that would just be the cherry on top.
By stocking the wetland with native plant species that were pushed out of the area by development, the project took on the larger focus of making some amends with the natural world, said Matt MacConnell, co-chairman of the Sierra Club’s Lehigh Valley Group.
“We are hoping to restore what used to be,” he said Friday as he steadied his muddy boots on the rocky shore of the young habitat.
Wetlands are among the most bio-diverse ecosystems in the world and have features that can help prevent climate change. But studies show they’re one of the most rapidly disappearing habitats on the planet. The Global Wetland Outlook by the Ramsar Convention, completed in 2018, found that the world’s wetlands are vanishing three times faster than forests.
Most of the Ricky Park wetland was finished in August, and MacConnell said animals have already turned the place into their own. Frogs plop into the cool water and brown bats feast on the insects it attracts. Small fish — blue gill and perhaps even a bass species — peek out from behind piping and duck back into cover after detecting the slightest movement on shore.
The native plant species, rushes, sedges, cardinal flower, red chokeberry and various pickleweeds among many others, come from Edge of the Woods Native Plants Nursery in Orefield. Some plants were donated and the business offered its expertise and consultation with the project leaders.
MacConnell said the plants should invite creatures that can help minimize concerns about wetland habitats — such as mosquitoes.
Louise Schaefer, co-owner of Edge of the Woods, said the native plants help with the critical ecological role of pollination. Most gardens aren’t stocked with native species and so native pollinators have declined in population. The opportunity to stock a newly formed wetlands habitat with the species meant to thrive there is a chance to perform some damage control, she said.
“Everything is so tied together that we can’t even understand it all completely,” Schaefer said. “But it’s becoming more and more apparent how important it is to get these native plants back into the ecosystem.”
Upper Macungie Township has been a key player in making the project possible, MacConnell said. The township has cooperated with the club’s work and has offered to help reimburse some of the $5,000 for the fence they’ve required to surrounds the habitat — keeping pets and children away from any danger.
MacConnell said he hopes the township can help pay for a pump to help battle the most serious obstacle the pond faces: aggressive algae. Though water is moving through the pond, it’s not doing so quickly enough to keep the creeping water plant at bay.
A metal sign detailing the wetland, its purpose and the wildlife that calls it home was completed by MacConnell’s colleague at Air Products, Jeff Barna. The labor and time and some materials were donated by the company, MacConnell said.
Neighbors were invited to visit the wetland as the project progressed, and some have even pitched in to help. MacConnell said the question he often gets is will this help with the flooding after rainy days.
“We can’t really say if it will help, but we know it won’t hurt,” MacConnell said.
A resident of the nearby Green Hills development himself, MacConnell is very familiar with Ricky Park and its sogginess. He believes that since the wetlands habitat was installed a few months ago, he’s already seen it provide some relief to the usual rainwater runoff that can be so problematic.
Morning Call reporter Sarah M. Wojcik can be reached at 610-778-2283 or swojcik@mcall.com.
