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Conservation group: South River Farm Park plan may do harm
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Published 08/26/10
The county's South River Farm Park juts out into the river between Selby Bay and Limehouse Cove. Its shoreline along the South River has been eroding for years and some of it was repaired several years ago by creating a soft, natural shoreline.
Now a section adjacent to the restored area at the mouth of Limehouse Cove is suffering from serious erosion, its banks carved out by storms and the constant wash from the river's waves. Trees have tumbled over as the shore has been washed away.
There is a project afoot to shore up an 800-foot section of the eroded area, but the South River Federation says that isn't necessarily good news.
The conservation organization, which has restored many acres of the river's shoreline over the years, thinks the project won't create conditions best suited to the river's ecosystem.
It can be done better, and cheaper, federation Executive Director Erik Michelsen said.
"They are saying this is a living shoreline, but (they're) not creating a system that is dynamic and intertidal. It is not what it should be at that location," he said.
The 183-acre park is rarely visited by the public and serves as the maintenance facility for the county Department of Recreation and Parks.
The opportunity to repair the shoreline - not an inexpensive proposition, especially during an economic slump - was created by the State Highway Administration.
Its 2008 bridge repair where Route 450 crosses Bacon Ridge Branch, a tributary of the South River, interfered with wetlands, requiring restoration somewhere else in the watershed.
And South River Farm Park's eroded shoreline seemed the perfect spot.
"We are the landowners in this, and our shoreline bank is eroding big time," said Mark Garrity, the county's parks administrator. "In every good squall we see the dirt washing away with each lapping wave."
With no funds to restore the shoreline, the county sees this as an opportunity to get the job done.
"This could be our only shot at stabilizing it. The shoreline will be further eroded if we do nothing," Garrity said.
A handful of agencies have their fingerprints on the project.
The first plans were rejected by the Corps of Engineers and the National Fisheries Service. Last spring a compromise plan proposed three alternatives:
A large rock sill offshore, with no plantings or sand.
A smaller living shoreline project.
Just having SHA make a payment into a wetland fund.
The Maryland Department of the Environment, which must issue the permit for the work, rejected all but the second choice - a living shoreline plan with plantings to create a low wetland condition, good for the river and its flora and fauna.
Rocky problem
Now that plan has been drawn up by SHA and forwarded to the county for approval before being sent to the MDE.
The plan will stretch along 800 linear feet of shoreline, with seven rock sills built offshore. In between those sills there will be gaps, roughly 14 feet wide at the top and narrower at the bottom.
Those gaps will be partially filled with rocks.
That is the problem, said Michelsen, who before becoming the federation's executive director worked for a firm that does wetland restorations.
The rocks in the gaps will not allow for flushing behind the rock sills at low tide - only at high tide, Michelsen said.
"At low tide there will be a complete stone box," he said.
While there will be a desired low wetland when the project is done, that lack of water movement will eventually help silt and material build up behind the stone and ruin the low wetland condition.
"It is an outrage that, given what we know about these delicate and increasingly rare ecosystems in our rivers and the technical capacity to do the right thing at a site like this, that we would allow anyone to install a project that harms the resource," Michelsen said.
"This represents a net environmental loss," he said, "particularly when it's done in the name of environmental mitigation."
The rock bottom of the vents will be set as high as the mean low tide, said Robert Cooper, the manager of the project for the SHA.
"The project will be affected by the daily tides," he said. "The team identified the functions desired, and we still feel (the plan) provides them."
He said the stone in the vent is added for stabilization, but Michelsen maintains that extra rock isn't needed.
"The older project on the other side of the point proves it's not necessary," he said.
Agency needs
Michelsen thinks part of the problem is that the agencies involved are meeting their own needs - SHA meets its obligation, MDE can say low wetlands were created, and the county gets its shore fixed for free.
"It is a win-win for all concerned, except for the South River," he said.
The plan still must be approved by the MDE.
"Certainly, MDE will not approve any design that does not entail adequate flushing," spokesman Jay Apperson said. "The bottom line is that MDE supports a living shoreline at the South River Farm Park location and will require monitoring both during and post-construction to ensure its success."
Michelsen hopes the MDE takes a close look at the long-term effects of the current plan. And he can point to the adjoining living shoreline restored years ago, which remains functional.
"It is best for the resource," he said. "And it is cheaper to do (it) the right way. It will take less work and materials," he said.
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