Among our projects in progress, GreenVest is proud to report efficient progress and strong performance on our Tinkers Creek Stream Restoration project, which will restore just over 7 miles of degraded and actively eroding stream once completed. This stream stabilization project facilitated by GV-Petro, a partnership between GreenVest and Petro Design Build Group, LLC, designed by Princeton Hydro, and implemented for the benefit of Prince George’s County Department of the Environment is expected to finish ahead of schedule during the Spring of 2022. Currently, we are 70% complete with over 20,000 linear feet of stream restored. In July, a powerful storm dumping over 5 inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period put the steep Paynes Branch reach to the test. This completed reach effectively conveyed stormwater flows in a stable manner to the main stem of Tinkers Creek. In the pre-restoration condition, this storm event would have resulted in extensive channel and bank erosion. Click here to see a time lapse video of how the upstream section of Paynes Branch at a large stormwater outfall performed during this storm event. Paynes Branch and nearby Meetinghouse Branch, and their headwater tributaries, are the largest contributors of sediment load to Tinkers Creek and stabilization of these reaches was completed in October and November, respectively. The riparian zone of these reaches will be planted with approximately 4,000 native trees and shrubs and an additional 5,000 stream bank live stakes in the spring of 2021.
Construction of GV’s Welzenbach Farm Stream Restoration and Farm Resiliency project, in partnership with the Department of the Army, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service, GreenTrust Alliance, the Harford Land Trust and the Department of Natural Resources, was initiated in October of 2020. Phase I of this project includes 3,793 linear feet of stream restoration and 2.76 acres of reforestation including riparian, forest buffer, and Critical Area plantings. Construction will be completed during the late winter and will culminate with planting during the Spring of 2021.
GV completed earthwork at our Birch Branch Wetland Restoration site during the fall of 2020. This project was funded under the Chesapeake Bay Trust’s Non-Tidal Wetland Grant Program in support of MDE’s In-Lieu-Fee (ILF) Program near Ocean City, Maryland. This project restored a former agricultural field to non-tidal wetlands in the Atlantic Coastal Bays physiographic region by plugging a series of ditches that effectively drained these fields preventing adequate groundwater input to support wetland hydrology. This site exemplifies GV’s continued commitment to provide durable and cost-effective mitigation to support MDE’s ILF Program obligations. The Birch Branch Project is scheduled for planting in Spring 2021, which will close out construction and commence the sites regulatory maintenance and monitoring period.
Keep an eye out for next week: Maintenance & Monitoring! And be sure to check out last week’s post: New Opportunities & Projects Awarded.
