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Watershed restoration is the process of returning damaged streams to conditions that are healthier, cleaner, and more natural for wildlife and aquatic life and people. Better streams and rivers means an improved quality of life for those who live, work, and play in the community. Restoring and rehabilitating streams brings many benefits to the entire county, as well as to neighborhoods adjacent to streams. To learn more, see below.
Booze Creek Watershed Improvement Project
A new web page is being developed to detail conditions impacting on the quality and sustainability of watershed resources in Booze Creek, a tributary in the Cabin John Watershed. Click above to link to this new page, which includes a PowerPoint Presentation in several formats presented to citizens in the watershed at a public meeting on November 9, 2005.
Great Seneca and Muddy Branch Watersheds
The public was invited to an open forum to hear about the watershed studies on the Great Seneca and Muddy Branch watersheds.The Watershed Restoration Partnership is comprised of Montgomery County DEP, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and the City of Gaithersburg.
Turkey Branch Restoration Project
Turkey Branch is the most extensive single project undertaken by DEP and consists of over 3.6 miles of stream. This project includes improving water quality by retrofitting an existing stormwater pond (Peppertree) located in the upper reaches of Turkey Branch, constructing two new stormwater ponds to capture uncontrolled stormwater runoff (Matt Henson Pond 1 and 2), and stream restoration to stabilize streambanks and improve instream habitat for aquatic organisms. For more information see our Turkey Branch Restoration Project Overview. What is Watershed Restoration?
Watershed restoration is the process of returning damaged streams to conditions that are healthier, cleaner, and more natural for wildlife and aquatic life and people. Better streams and rivers means an improved quality of life for those who live, work, and play in the community. Restoring and rehabilitating streams brings many benefits to the entire county, as well as to neighborhoods adjacent to streams. What resident doesn't want cooler waters, less pollution, better flood control, and less trash in and around their local streams? Those who stroll or bike along the stream valley trail systems deserve safer trails, less erosion, and mature shade trees under which to relax. Finally, many residents choose to live near a stream valley because of the difference it makes to their sense of well-being or to property values. Better stream conditions mean a more balanced overall ecosystem.
The Problem - Streams in Montgomery County suffer from being
located in a highly urbanized area which experienced rapid development over the last 60 years. Because they are fragile systems, most streams are unable to withstand the cumulative impacts of prolonged urbanization. Most of the development occurred at a time when there were no requirements to safeguard the streams which absorbed much of the damage. As a result, some of the most common problems are:
- Excessive sediment in streams
- Unstable stream banks
- Spills or illegal discharges of pollutants
- Severely eroding stream channels
- Lack of forested stream buffer areas
- Uncontrolled runoff from high stormwater flows
By its very nature, stream restoration takes time. Montgomery
County makes extensive use of scientific watershed studies to
identify the most severe problems first . Some of the benefits are:
- Stabilized stream banks
- Wider, more lush buffer areas along streams
- Better protection of wetland areas
- Diversion of storm flow towards better flood control
- Wildlife species reintroduction
- Habitat restoration
 Watershed Restoration Factsheets
Hawlings River Watershed Restoration Action Plan
The Hawlings River Watershed Restoration Study was completed in February 2003. The Hawlings River Watershed Restoration Action Plan is a dynamic document to track progress in implementing the Study recommendations. To produce the greatest improvements for existing degraded instream habitat as well as to provide the best opportunities for reductions of sediment and associated pollutants, implementation must include:
• Stream restoration projects throughout the watershed, rather than focusing in just the developed portions.
• AgBMPs, particularly those targeted to protect riparian buffers, and expanded where possible
• Active stewardship, by both residents and resource users, to control all sources of degradation and to promote the needed stream restoration and buffer enhancement and creation projects.
 During 2003, the DEP received a grant from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources for cost-share on the fourth highest ranked stream restoration project from the Study. Total project cost will be $231,000. The implementation project will address streambank stability and instream habitat problems in a 2,800-foot reach of the Hawlings River mainstem above Brighton Dam Road. This entire reach is bordered by County parkland, so DEP and M-NCPPC Parks Department are closely coordinating on this project. EQR, Inc. is the project design consultant. Scheduled project completion date is December 2004. For more information, contact Meosotis Curtis, Project Manager, at 240.777.7711 or e-mail meosotis.curtis@montgomerycountymd.gov.
Rock Creek Restoration Schedule (posted August, 2004)
The Restoration Project Schedule is an addendum to the Rock Creek Watershed Restoration Action Plan (see below). The schedule highlights the timeframe and design status for stream restoration and stormwater management projects DEP is undertaking in the Rock Creek Watershed.
Rock Creek Watershed Restoration Action Plan
The Rock Creek Watershed Restoration Action Plan is a summary of the more technical and lengthy Rock Creek Watershed Feasibility Study that was completed in the Summer of 2001. The document describes the general stream conditions found in the watershed, along with typical impacts and problems that need to be addressed. Solutions to these problems and specific project areas are presented, which include stream restoration and stormwater management throughout the watershed.
Watts Branch Watershed Restoration Study - Task 1
The Watts Branch Watershed Restoration Study is a watershed restoration plan being conducted by Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (MCDEP). The purpose of the study is to assess and prioritize potential stormwater management and stream enhancement projects that address channel erosion and riparian and aquatic resource conditions of the Watts Branch watershed. Results from this study will be used by MCDEP in an overall watershed plan to protect and improve conditions in the Watts Branch watershed. The watershed plan will include public outreach, capital projects, and volunteering opportunities. This Task One report summarizes existing conditions found in the watershed. In addition, the report discusses the methods used for identifying and prioritizing impaired subwatersheds and presents the results of this exercise. Task Two and Task Three reports will follow in the future, containing specific projects, designs, prioritizations, and implementation recommendations.
Montgomery County’s Commitment to Anacostia Watershed Restoration
This report describes Montgomery County’s efforts to repair stream environments damaged by inadequately controlled stormwater runoff in the County’s older established watersheds. Illustrations of typical sedimentation and habitat loss damages are provided, along with examples of remedial projects that have been built to restore habitat features and enable support to more diverse aquatic communities.
Examples are provided of projects the Department of Environmental Protection has constructed or has under design in the Sligo Creek, Northwest Branch, Paint Branch, and Little Paint Branch watersheds. These streams flow into the regional Anacostia watershed, where partnership watershed restoration efforts are being cooperatively pursued by Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and the District of Columbia. The report presents information on a number of stream restoration and stormwater retrofit projects that have been built or programmed to address problems in Montgomery County’s Anacostia tributaries, along with related information on funding, the number of stream miles restored, and watershed acres protected by new stormwater management controls.
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