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MINEBANK RUN PROJECT AS AN APPROACH FOR RESTORING DEGRADED URBAN WATERSHEDS AND RIPARIAN ECOSYSTEMS
Citation:
MAYER, P. M. AND E. A. STRIZ. MINEBANK RUN PROJECT AS AN APPROACH FOR RESTORING DEGRADED URBAN WATERSHEDS AND RIPARIAN ECOSYSTEMS. Presented at 2005 EPA Science Forum, Washington, DC, May 16 - 19, 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Elevated nitrate levels in streams and groundwater pose human and ecological threats. Minebank Run, an urban stream in Baltimore MD, will be restored in 2004/2005 using various techniques including reshaping stream banks to reconnect stream channel to flood plain, stream bank reinforcement, reconstructing stream meander features and riffle zones, and re-establishing riparian plant communities. We will examine this stream before and after restoration to measure and identify limits to microbial denitrification, a natural process occurring in soils and groundwater that removes significant amounts of nitrate in waters by transformation to a biologically inactive gas form. Denitrification occurs under anaerobic conditions (e.g. saturated soils) and is limited by supply of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to microbes. Restoration may enhance denitrification by reestablishing flood plain hydrology and/or increasing carbon availability. Identifying stream features where high denitrification activity occurs may provide important nitrate reduction tools and direct future restoration efforts. Lab and field-based research will be conducted collaboratively among scientists from EPA/ORD, USGS, Baltimore County Dept. of Environmental Protection, and Institute for Ecosystem Studies. Research will include efforts to: 1) monitor surface and ground water quality and characterize hydrology by establishing an extensive network of wells and peizometers, 2) quantify denitrification activity in situ and in the lab, and 3) measure carbon supply and retention of various stream features, 4) quantify sediment movement, and 5) model subsurface and hyporheic hydrology.