The protection of Chesapeake Bay watershed and its vast ecosystem has been a top priority of government officials and advocacy groups, leading to the extensive restoration of multiple tributaries that feed into the bay. These efforts included Dead Run, a stream network in Catonsville, Maryland, that had become severely deteriorated due to stream bank erosion, limited floodplain interaction, tree falls clogging the stream, exposed sewer pipes, and damaged storm drainage outfall protection.
To address the situation, WSP was contracted by the Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability (DEPS) to provide environmental design services for the rehabilitation of the stream network. Our initial assessment of the level of impairment within the stream indicated that it would not be capable of naturally healing itself, provides a poor environment for aquatic organisms, and is a source of water quality pollution due to flooding and erosion issues.
In response, our team created a plan with the multiple goals: stabilize the stream; implement a sustainable design that relies on bioengineering for long-term sustainability; provide uplift to support aquatic habitat; reconnect the groundwater levels to the riparian root zones to promote healthier buffers; and reconnect the floodplains to allow for high flows to spread outside of the channel.
In addition to the restoration design, our team designed an innovative off-line stormwater pond to capture low-flow stormwater from a storm drain outfall pipe at the head of a small tributary, to promote storage of peak flows and provide water quality control and pollutant reduction or removal.
WSP’s construction management and monitoring expertise was integral in our ability to provide guidance for proper installation of several specialized in-channel structures, to ensure their long-term stability and function, and to ensure the design was effectively implemented in the field for maximization of water quality and TMDL credits to DEPS.
The stream restoration and the best management practices implemented at Dead Run are thriving. The stream system has met all project goals and the shrubs, grasses and live tree stakes are densely vegetating the new floodplain areas. Wetland habitats are forming within the floodplains, driving water quality improvement, and biological uplift is notable. Per the design, in five years the dense vegetative growth and integration of natural materials will make it difficult to discern that these segments of the Dead Run were engineered.
