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Neighbor News

DC Revitalizes Rock Creek Carter Barron with Stormwater Retrofit

NFWF Funds Blagden Creek Restoration

Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. has much to offer including over 25 miles of trails for hiking, horseback riding, and biking, a nature center and planetarium, a golf course, multiple picnic sites, an historic grist mill, along with an oasis of natural forested wildlife habitat.

Visitors to Rock Creek Park’s many attractions and facilities may have noticed recent upgrades that include swaths of flowering plants (rain gardens) and improved curb and drainage areas along the winding roadways and some of the parking lots in the park.

A $500,000 grant to the Washington DC Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation funded the construction of a number of improvements to help address stormwater runoff from about 30 acres near the park tennis complex west of 16th Street. The drainage from this area drains into Blagden Run, which is a tributary of Rock Creek.

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The targeted project area includes a critical 11 acres of impervious surface that represents 15% of the imperviousness in the whole Blagden Creek watershed. “Being able to address this specific area of impervious cover gave us lots of opportunities to capture pollutants and slow down run-off and improve what’s going downstream,” said Cecilia Lane, Environmental Protection Specialist at Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE).

“We are at the top, the headwaters, of the Blagden Run watershed which is a sub watershed of Rock Creek, which goes into the Potomac, which goes into the Chesapeake Bay, so it’s all connected and has a major effect,” said Steve Saari, Associate Director, Watershed Protection Division, DOEE.

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The strategically designed rain gardens comprised of native plantings are just one of the methods that will slow down stormwater, remove pollutants, recharge groundwater and improve habitat. Others include stabilizing gullies, redirecting and slowing water flow along roadways, and capturing water on open areas.

Bill Yeaman, Natural Resource Specialist, Division of Resource Management, with the National Park Service, focuses on the streams and waterways in park systems. “This project has positive impacts on removing pollutants and improving water quality, reducing storm flows and increasing groundwater recharge,” said Yeaman.

“For example, coming into the park from 16th street along Beach Drive, there was a lot of water coming from two directions, so we worked on a way to get all of the water treated by using different approaches,” he said. “The rain gardens installed along the roadway helped capture and clean runoff. We also fashioned a slope and installed a slotted trench drain to capture and redirect storm flows to one of the rain gardens.”

Those improvements are part of what was a 360-degree approach that tackled each area surrounding the intersection that previously experienced flooding.

The north ball field was treated with sub-soiling, a technique that employs alternating cuts into the soil, loosening it up to allow for better absorption of stormwater.

The forested area just west of the south ball field adjacent Morrow Drive has a steep grade that suffers from significant erosion during storm events. This has resulted in a deep channel in the gully and damage to critical and sensitive wildlife habitat.

“For this gully we used an innovative technique called the ‘post and wattle’ system, which is something that could be more widely applied all over the states wherever you have a situation where you want to slow down flows so downstream areas can handle them better,” said Lane.

These consist of organic bundles, branches stabilized by posts and plantings, that serve as a series of “check dams” to slow moving water. “In this location we used live willow stakes that will slowly decompose and buy time while the natural terrace fills in—a ‘regenerative stormwater conveyance,’” said Lane.

This low impact approach minimizes impacts to existing forests and the groundwater seeps that are habitat for native species.

One such species is the Hay’s spring amphipod, a small crustacean, which is the only federally endangered species that lives exclusively in Washington, DC. Resembling a tiny shrimp, it lives underground near small freshwater springs. Polluted stormwater runoff and groundwater contamination as well as the reduction of groundwater recharge are significant threats to its survival.

Cleaner waterways help support the many other species found in the vast acres of natural woodlands protected in the park.

Yeaman said, “we have a multitude of species including red fox, wild turkey, raccoons, opossums, flying squirrels, box turtles, hawks and owls as well as a variety of reptiles and amphibians. During the fall a lot birders are in the park to look for additional species such as warblers, thrushes, flycatchers, and others as they stop here on their migration routes.”

Prior to the project getting underway, DOEE held workshops at the tennis stadium for the immediate neighbors and Lane reached out to area residents to share project plans.

“Many park visitors were very enthused about what they were seeing but initially thought the project was for beautification only. Once they learned that the work would address and improve water quality and stormwater runoff, they were very excited and appreciative,” said Yeaman.

Making the connection for park-goers and area residents and businesses will continue once a number of wayside exhibits explaining the purpose and function of the new project are installed at strategic locations. Content for the signs and their fabrication will be provided by DOEE.

“This educational component is an important part of all projects,” said Yeaman.

Yeaman said, “we’re always looking at ways to add more stormwater mitigation to the park, and DOEE is a key partner. They help neighbors do the same, by installing stormwater practices on their own property. People can put in rain gardens and rain barrels—everybody has an opportunity to do their part on their own unique properties.”

What you can do: Consider signing up for local green infrastructure programs like Washington DC’s River Smart Homes that can help you create beautiful landscapes while stopping stormwater runoff before it can harm our urban waterways.

by Cheryl Vosburg & Mike Smith

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