Introduction

This site is a 6 acre forested wetland restoration located within theLower Susquehanna River -Broad Creek (02-12-02-05) watershed of Harford County.            

Construction

In Summer 2005, in a coordinated effort between the Maryland Department of the Environment and Harford Soil Conservation District this prior converted cropland was graded and planted to restore the wetlands.                 

Status

In 2007, MDE conducted intensive site monitoring which included installing IRIS tubes, evaluating the soil, monitoring hydrology multiple times during the spring growing season, and scoring the site.  Three out of the four IRIS tube sets and corresponding hydrological observations found sufficient hydrology.  While the soils are not yet hydric, it is expected that given the current hydrology, the majority of soils will become hydric soon.  Some areas were determined to be too wet or too dry, but overall this site has established into an acceptable wetland and provides valuable wetland functions to the landscape.  The site is dominated by Soft rush, followed by cattail and other wetland herbaceous species.  The invasive species Arthraxon hispidus was also found in small amounts at this site.  Planted trees had very high survival rates.  Using the newly developed Mitigation Site Scoring Method, MDE gave this site a score of 83/100.   This site provides many valuable wetland functions, including filtering sediment/pollutants, discharging/recharging groundwater, and providing habitat for wetland dependent species and amphibians.  Field observations confirmed the presence of deer, fox, American toads, Leopard frogs, and Red-winged blackbirds.  This site is on private property.     

Wetland mitigation 2007

Frog Eggs

Evaluating soils and IRIS tubes

Juncus species