CHESAPEAKE COLLEGE STORMWATER & RESOTRATION PROJECTS

Purpose:  Comprehensive stormwater and restoration projects at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, MD reduce erosion and treat pollutants entering the Wye River from both the developed footprint of the campus and surrounding agriculture fields.

After

Before

Projects:  ShoreRivers obtained the funding and managed the design and construction of a suite of stormwater and restoration projects that will materially improve water quality in the nearby Wye River.  The suite of 19 projects addresses major stormwater challenges on the campus and captures runoff from almost 80 acres of surrounding agricultural fields.

The projects include a wetland restoration and meadow planting, ten bioponds that filter stormwater, two riparian buffer plantings, a stream restoration that reduces erosion and treats pollutants, the conversion of three sites of almost ten acres of turf to wildflower meadow, and a planting of almost four acres of switchgrass buffers around agricultural fields.  ShoreRivers is also installing interpretive signage around the campus to explain to visitors the nature and purpose of the various projects, and is developing a training program and manual for use by faculty and students to conduct ongoing monitoring at the stream restoration site.

The projects will intersect with education programs at the college, provide opportunities for students to study the effects of the restoration work and to help maintain the new infrastructure, and will have high visibility as demonstration projects for all students and community members who use the campus.

Estimated Pollution Reductions:  352.2 lbs of nitrogen, 36.7 lbs of phosphorus, and 38,022 lbs of sediment annually.