In 1999, CCEC partnered with government agencies and university researchers to build a wetland to restore Jumping Run Creek — a creek that drains into a major shellfish area within the White Oak River Basin.
The shellfish waters into which Jumping Run Creek flows have been plagued with bacterial pollution impacts for several years. Research to mitigate these impacts began in 1997. The effort is part of a comprehensive, watershed-wide approach to test techniques to decrease the closure of the resource. Wetlands, which store and filter stormwater, are one technique being implemented.
CCEC donated a 3-acre easement bordering the cooperative’s property within the Jumping Run Creek watershed area for the restoration of a wetland. This area will treat upstream drainage from more than one-third of the watershed.
The objective of this multi-agency, multi-disciplinary project is to 1) quantify the effects of land use change on shellfish closures and 2) assess techniques that can be used to mitigate those impacts. In addition to the wetland restoration effort for CCEC site, mitigation practices will include riparian buffer restoration, bio-retention, peat filters, and education.
This restoration project is a unique joint venture between state and federal agencies and private industry to work toward water quality improvement. The co-op’s donation of property and cooperation on this restoration project not only demonstrates its commitment to environmental stewardship but also exemplifies how development and restoration activities can be integrated to work together. Through such restoration efforts, it is hoped that new and innovative design and landscape techniques can be blended with development plans to promote water quality.