Wetlands Created for Flood Reduction

Two Wetland Swales Designed to ResolveGreenwood's Flooding and Water Quality Issues

Earlier this summer state and local officials worked together to create two wetland swales designed to reduce flooding and improve water quality going to Chesapeake Bay.

Greenwood's flooding issues didn't happen overnight. As land in the area was developed and drained a lot of natural streams were rerouted and large areas lost connections to flood plains - the land that would traditionally absorb water and reduce flooding, said Sarah Esposito, an engineer with the state's Division of Watershed Stewardship.

In Greenwood, a series of tax ditches drained the land, but in some cases heavy water flow during storms caused the ditch banks to erode.

Town officials, the Sussex County Conservation District and the State Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control worked together to restore a buffer of native plants along a 1,000-foot section of Cart Branch and they created two wetland swales to help capture water and reduce flooding. The $35,000 project was done with a National Fish & Wildlife Foundation grant, through the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund.

The two-part project is on two small open areas - one near the Delaware/Penn Fibre and James Thompson Co. plants - and the other near Brenda Jones Memorial Park. The two sites form more than a half-acre floodplain and buffer.

Esposito said that native plants, shrubs and trees have been planted in both areas to provide habitat in addition to flood reduction. The areas were created in June and are already covered in grasses and small trees.

The second area near the two industrial sites was regraded to create a wetland swale and it, too, was planted with native plants, grasses, trees and shrubs. It also collects storm water.

Source: DelawareOnline

Read More Related Content On This Topic - Click Here

Media

Taxonomy

• Environment
• Flood Management
• Wetlands