Re-engineering for the Environment

The headwaters of Whitehall Creek represents the future for Stormwater Fund use in other parts of our County. While this project was design before the stormwater funds were even on the horizon, it is an early attempt at restoring the stream at the headwaters of our degraded creek.

The headwaters of Whitehall Creek has for many years had a siltation problem. This was greatly aggravated when the Cape St. Claire interchange on Route 50 was constructed in 1989. The silt barriers erected by the County failed and over 100 dump truck loads of dirt were flushed into the headwaters of the Creek.

After many years of working with State and County officials to acknowledge the problem, a joint project was created. The Amberley Board of Directors secured a long term, no interest loan from the DNR (paid back over 25 years on the property tax bill) for a clearing of a navigable channel in the upper portion of Whitehall Creek. Meanwhile the County and State paid to have the stream leading into Whitehall Creek retrofitted with environmentally sound stabilization techniques to keep a repeat of the damage from occurring. This took many years of ongoing meetings with our County and State representatives. With the help of then councilman Cathy Vitale, AA County code had to be amended to allow the entire community to share in paying off the debt.

Here are some photos of the restoration efforts at the head of the Creek. The stream bed was widened and flattened, with some rock added along portions of the bank that take the strongest beating from the moving water. Further downstream, as the bank lowers, shallow permeable rock dams have been placed to slow and filter the stream. It is expected that every 10 years or so sediment removal operations will need to take place behind these rock damns.

There is still work to be done. Native grasses and ground cover need to replace the stabilization plantings and burlap applied after construction. A fair number of the tree plantings have been damaged by deer and beaver and will require some replanting and wire protection cages. While the results are much better than the previous unchecked rush of stormwater to the Creek, the project may need improvements to the hydrology functions. The water must soak more of the ground surrounding the stream to return the vegetation to marsh flora. The more we can slow the water down once it gets under Whitehall Road and before it reaches the headwaters, the better the results will be in returning to the freshwater marsh habitat.

Below are some photos of the reconstruction work, as well as a video of the high flow we recently experienced on April 30th, 2014.