The Center for Watershed Protection is happy to announce the completion of a $1.3 million, three-year project to restore over 2/3 of a mile of stream at the Bar-T Mountainside property in Urbana, Maryland. The Center managed the overall project with design and construction support from Ecotone, and the work was funded by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Frederick County and Baltimore Gas and Electric.
The North Branch of Little Bennett Creek flows through the 115-acre Bar-T Mountainside property, owned by Joe Richardson and operated as an outdoors summer camp and afterschool program. This project restored a 1,744-foot segment of the North Branch of Bennett Creek, which, prior to restoration, had a Bank Erodibility Hazard Index score of 45 and a rating of Very High to Extreme. Stream banks at this location were 3-4 feet high and actively eroding and the floodplain had been heavily impacted by legacy sediment and historic agricultural activities. These impacts disconnected the stream from its floodplain, reducing its ability to absorb floodwaters and filter out pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus. The project area is downstream from a highly managed golf course that provides significant nutrient inputs to the watershed.
