Tri-State Marine Wetland Creation
Parts of the Chesapeake Bay watershed contain a high percentage of impervious cover – paved or other hard surfaces such as roofs and roadways that prevent rain water from being absorbed into the ground. Instead, water runs along these surfaces, collecting trash and substances such as motor oil, lawn fertilizers, and pesticides. This polluted stormwater flows into streams and rivers, where it threatens aquatic ecosystems and public health.
Effective stormwater management, on the other hand, creates safe paths for polluted runoff to be captured and filtered through the ground before it reaches waterways. This helps keep the environment clean and our communities healthy!
Project Location: Deale, MD
Problem: The Tri-State Marine (TSM) property, a full-service marine business, featured a large, unsightly gravel lot used to store boats and trailers. TSM’s former owners, Tom & Mary Beth Magenau, believed a company relying on a clean, healthy Chesapeake Bay should contribute to projects that help prevent polluted runoff.
Solution: TSM and the Arundel Rivers Federation transformed the barren gravel lot into a beautiful wetland. The project includes landscaping that captures pollution and debris and a pond ringed by native trees and plants that manages stormwater and prevents flooding. Each feature cleans polluted runoff and improves water quality, reduces stormwater peak flow rates, and recharges groundwater. The wetland also traps sediment. The site has exploded with a diverse array of wildlife and is home to frogs, dragonflies, pollinators, ducks, fish, and blue herons.
The project installed over 1,000 trees and plants to create a functional, diverse wetland system that provides habitat and water quality benefits to the Chesapeake Bay. This project is the first public-private partnership for stormwater work in southern Anne Arundel County. It also stands out because of the landowner-led effort to treat stormwater while prioritizing habitat on a large scale.
The project also won 3rd in the 2019 BUBBAs for Best Habitat Creation.
Scale: 60,625 sq. ft. of wetland created; over 1,000 native plants installed
Cost: $450,000
Funding Sources: Chesapeake Bay Trust; Anne Arundel County’s Watershed Protection and Restoration Program; MD Department of Natural Resources; Tri-State Marine
More info:
Tri-State Marine project page: buff.ly/2MxL4ZV
Arundel Rivers Page: buff.ly/2yAOhiZ
Chesapeake Stormwater Network BUBBA Award Page: buff.ly/2TuvVdd
