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THE EFFECTS OF ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION ON NITROGEN PROCESSING IN AN URBAN MID-ATLANTIC PIEDMONT STREAM
Citation:
Mayer*, P. M., E Striz*, R. Shedlock, E. Doheny, AND Groffman. THE EFFECTS OF ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION ON NITROGEN PROCESSING IN AN URBAN MID-ATLANTIC PIEDMONT STREAM. Presented at First Interagency Conf. on Research in the Watersheds, Benson, AZ, October 27 - 30, 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Elevated nitrate levels in streams and groundwater pose human and ecological threats. The US EPA, USGS, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, and Baltimore County Dept. of Environmental Protection are collaborating on a multi-year study of the impacts of stream restoration on nitrogen processing in Minebank Run, a piedmont stream in Baltimore County, Maryland. The study is designed to investigate the nitrate removal capacity of this stream before and after restoration. Restoration techniques such as bank re-shaping, bank reinforcement, and energy dissipation structures will be constructed to reestablish geomorphic stability lost due to impacts from storm water runoff. We will quantify the effects of specific restoration techniques on microbial denitrification, a process that removes nitrate but which requires anaerobic (saturated) conditions and adequate supply of dissolved organic carbon from detritus and organic soils. Restoration may enhance denitrification by increasing groundwater saturation and/or by increasing carbon supply to denitrifers in the subsurface. Therefore, stream geomorphology, surface flow, groundwater flow, and geochemistry are being quantified throughout the stream reach and in a network of 51 wells and piezometers installed at the site corresponding to the restoration techniques of interest. Denitrification activity will be measured throughout the stream and related to limiting factors such as carbon and dissolved oxygen. 3-D hydrologic models of nitrate movement will be developed for the watershed. Our study results will be used to develop stream restoration approaches for reducing nitrate pollution in urban watersheds.
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