Location: College Park, MD
Partners Involved: Maryland National Capital Park & Planning Commission (PG Co Dept of Parks; & Recreation); PG Co Dept of Environment; US Army Corp of Engineers; University of Maryland
Type of Buffer: Urban
Submitted by: Laura Connelly & Larry Quarrick
This riparian buffer is located in the Paint Branch Steam Valley Park and bordered on the east by multiple businesses along the highly developed Route 1 Corridor. A stream restoration project was initiated by the Prince George’s County Department of the Environment. The Paint Branch was meandering widely throughout the lower reaches of the stream in response to upstream development. As a result, many private property owners and the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission (“M-NCPPC”) were losing valuable stream bank area and riparian buffer. Additionally, the stream meandering threatened a major WSSC asset (sewer trunkline) that runs parallel to the stream.
The Army Corp of Engineers and the PG Dept of Environment partnered to redesign approximately one mile of stream corridor using more natural techniques of stone and native tree plantings. A small oxbow lake was created and native trees and plantings (tulip poplar, river birch, pin oak, sweet gum and red maple) were installed along the project stream banks to replace/repair the damage from the stream erosion and the stream restoration construction.
The outcome of this project is stream bank stability, as well as thermo pollution abatement, improved water quality and reduction of sediment transport.
This post Is part of the first annual CCLC Riparian Buffer Month.
For more information check out our page
If you would like to support professional training of landscape professionals in the design, instillation, and maintenance of riparian buffers, please donate today to the CBLP-Buffers scholarship fund. We believe that landscape professionals have a unique ability to directly affect the health of our landscapes- and your donation will directly assist a professional in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to pursue training.
