Birch Branch Wetland Restoration Project

The Chesapeake Bay Trust/Maryland Department of the Environment Birch Branch Wetland Restoration Project, situated in the Atlantic Coastal Bays watershed was designed, approved, and constructed to rehabilitate, create, and restore wetlands on the site. This included: the restoration of site hydrology by optimizing groundwater to surface water connection; creating ecological uplift by enhancing ecological functions of existing and historic non-tidal wetlands and wetland buffers and their chemical, biological, and physical processes of this historic headwater system; restoring wildlife and aquatic habitat; reducing downstream peak flows entering Birch Branch and Isle of Wight Bay; and establishing a complex and diverse native wetland plant community. This project included 9.90 acres of wetland creation, 0.28 acres of wetland rehabilitation, and 1.08 acres of wetland buffer restoration which are perpetually preserved within an 11.26-acre easement.