Progress Update on the Restoration!

St. Luke's  Restoration of Nature Project
Update as of October 20, 2017

Written by Betsy Love,
Master Watershed Steward and St. Luke's Environmental Committee Chair

It is very hard to describe the exhilaration this team has felt over the last two and a half weeks as scenes such as the one below reveal themselves. I visit nearly daily just to witness the well-honed skill and artful eye deployed by the Underwood & Associates team. We are all frequen t ly awestruck because reality far exceeds the expectations in the design features installed. I m agine, as you look at the landscape below, even without the plantings, the idea of conservation landscaping becoming the norm. In that case, I believe every stream would run clear if hom e owners -- especially those with large impervious footprints, who may spend thousands creating and maintaining sterile green lawns -- preferred instead lasting nature-scapes that restore clean water and habitat.


 
The construction stage of this project has been so much fun that I highly recommend stormwater pipe system mitigation to everyone, particularly in a City, because the accessibility provides the opportunity to meet new people who are "curious about what in the world we are doing." We also have many environmentalists who come to view Keith Underwood's mastery at ecosystem restoration. While there are many notables who visit, perhaps the most unexpected was the visitor from Japan who was wandering about at the first sandstone boulder cascade seen in the photograph above. Pastor Diana and I introduced ourselves, and we found that he had read about the project online and wanted to consult with Keith regarding a wetland construction project in Japan! Indeed, it is a small world. Here are our wetlands before the historic stream reaches them, which, as you know, is currently imprisoned by stormwater pipes and soon to be freed. When that happens we can't wait to hear the Spring Peepers begin their chorale  performance.
 

In every landscape, there is typically a f o cal point where one's eye is  drawn. Pa s tor Diana and I watched how Keith U n derwood installed the focal point in the Bay Ridge upland landscape. He used the excavator (aka Big Orange) as if it were a sculpting tool. This is a phot o graph of the artist at work. He is building a 3' cascade of sandstone boulders. The process was that he would place the monster sized boulder and then he would get out of Big Orange and stand back looking at the position of the boulder he had just placed. Then, he would get back in and make adjustments.
 
 
What emerges is not just a 3' cascade but a natural waterfall! It is easy to imagine the glimme r ing beauty, which is soon to emerge with the first step pool flushed with stormwater already benefiting from the filtration in the upland bioswale treatment. We thought this spot from which the photo was made would be a great place for an educational overlook describing the Regenerative Stormwater Conveyance (RSC) aka restored stream. Looking at this photo, one might think they are transported back millions of years ago when these sedime n tary rocks were formed. I just read that the color of red in sandstone  boulders indicate they are more than 100 million years old! Underwood ensures sandstone boulders always are used in these tidewater region ecosystem restorations, as it is indigenous with multiple benefits, i.e, sandstone allows percolation and storage of water, and they also filter pollutants! That is quite a r e sume for a rock and what a brilliant tool to use in clean water projects!
 

St. Luke's members are rarely alone on the sidelines as this upland waterfall grabs people. Recently, I met a Hillsmere neighbor and his three-year-old son who admitted they stop at all construction sites, as they enjoy watching construction work. When Pastor Diana and I were asked what we were building, we were more than happy to share that this construction scene was actually a Bay restoration project. He was delighted to learn that we were implementing a series of best management practices developed over the decades and recommended by the Chesapeake Bay Program's restoration experts. I think we will be seeing them here often when the project is completed, because I know that little boy is going to enjoy all the fascinating features in a restored ecosystem. In conversations like this one, I find hope that this campus will indeed serve the purpose of creating future environmental stewards.

Last week, the crew spent time preparing the upland Bay Ridge bioswale in preparation for  the daylighted storm drain opening. Construction is simultaneously being done to prepare the entry point of stormwater, which involves a lot of deep digging by Big Orange, but the comple t ed bioswale, which will do the work of infiltrating and conveying the excess stormwater, really caught my eye.

I love the beauty of the complimentary colors of natural materials in perfect symmetry. Al t hough it does look thirsty, the imprisoned historic stream's water is on its way. Also, the b i oswale will be adorned soon with native plants, which will maximize the bioswale's sand, co b ble, and wood chip infiltration power. Kudos to the design/build firm for creating such a beaut i ful bioswale even without plants!
 
 
There is a great story to tell about that large tree stump complete with its root ball that was d e livered early to the worksite back in August and placed on the grassy slope by Fairview Ave across from the church. Almost like a wallflower at a dance, it sat by itself on that grassy slope while all the other materials nearby were chosen to dance within the Bay restoration dance theater. But, hallelujah, the day came when that big root balled tree stump's time came. In fact, Big Orange was joined by two mini me machines who also danced.


It occurred to me that the circle of this tree's life had been expanded. As the tree produces carbon in the step pool, the water that flows from it will be cleaned by this tree stump, which keeps on working just like the carbon filters work in your water purifiers. Congratulations, root balled tree stump on your recycled second life!

We are blessed that our project has captured the attention of educational leaders in both the County and the City.  Creative ideas were flowing fast and easily recently when we toured the project. There also may be interest among public school art teachers, who might find the ca m pus rich in potential art projects!

Here is Chris Becraft, Underwood & Associates' Project Manager, leading a tour of educators. He is pointing out the subtle 1' elevation changes in this lower level of the restored stream channel. He noted that people are always surprised to learn that, unlike stormwater ponds, in a step pool the water is always moving, not unlike a natural stream. Folks are fooled by water looking stagnant, but it is not. It always moves through the porous stream bed materials.



Our hope is that not only educators but others will find an easily accessible campus that both contributes to a local jurisdiction's Watershed Implementation Plan goals and enhances a community with park like green space to be of interest. Our final goal in this conservation lan d scape is to inspire environmental stewardship for decades. Perhaps the accessibility and eas i ly traversed trails will be advantageous to tributary representatives, environmental lobbyists, and government leaders here in the state capitol and around the Bay watershed. We have a l ready heard from gardening, scouting, and meditative groups that these trails fit their interests. We also hope this project inspires similar communities to mitigate stormwater outfalls in their neighborhoods through private/public partnerships.
 
Meanwhile, progress here at St. Luke's marches ahead. Keith Underwood expects he will have completed the last section of weirs in the RSC as well as the woodland bioswales within two weeks!  Final preparations to capture stormwater at higher elevations are occurring everywhere. Curb cuts are being installed to grab the curbside sheetflow of stormwater, which runs off your roof, lawn and driveway, etc. into the street, picking up more pollutants while flowing to the nearest stormwater drain. Curb cuts don't let that happen.

Curb cuts pull that stormwater into a waiting bioswale that performs the three fundamentals of stormwater management: slow it down, spread it out, and soak it in. At St. Luke's, the curb cuts directly feed both the RSC and the massive upland bioswales. In the higher elevations, the bioswales will allow us to capitalize on the "soak it in" factor to produce quality flow of groundwater, which helps the stream receive clean water injections.

Here are some photos of curb cut work with the stream in the background of the photo to the right and an upland bioswale in the photo below:
 

















The other big event that is happening since the last report is that the vegetation storage areas are filling up and overflowing. What a joy to see! Yes, native trees, shrubs and a vast array of wetland plants arrived and more are on the way. I know that my childhood favorite, Chiona n thus Virginicus (Fringe Tree) is on the plan, and I simply can't wait for that sweet fragrance to join with other species filling the air at St. Luke's with a lovely fragrance.

So onward we go. In the next 3 weeks we are going to  be planting over 30,000 native species plants! Yes, there is no typo in the zeros! To get an ecosystem in balance, a lot of plants are required just like we needed a lot of bou l ders, sand, cobble, peat, wood chips, and large downed trees looking for a second life. While there are many more plants to come, in the photo below, you can see some of the renowned favorite species...Sweet Bay Magnolia and Atlantic White Cedars!
 

What a wonderful ride it has been for the St. Luke's community since fall of 2013, when a whole congregation got seriously focused on an "Audacious Goal" to restore nature and thereby cr e ate clean water for aquatic species and quality habitat for wildlife and humans.
 
With construction winding down, I will miss the every day excitement of what new delightful i n stallation begin to evolve. I will miss the wonderful look of elation in visitors' faces as we talk about Chesapeake Bay restoration and the role of this project in serving clean water and qual i ty habitat in perpetuity.  I'm going to miss gigantic boulder sculpting tools like Big Orange mo v ing the impossible.



And, I will miss the amazement moments like the one below when this awesome sized giant queen sized bed specimen of a sandstone boulder was delivered. Some people just had to get up on the thing, stretch out, and have a phone conversation!



In the final home stretch, I can hardly wait to see many friends and make new ones as we start the planting process with volunteers, the Maryland Conservation Corps, and the USNA Midshipmen. Please join us for one of our many volunteer planting opportunities over the new few weeks. See our poster or the St. Luke's Restoration of Nature  Facebook event for all the details.

Don't worry if you only have time to place a few plants in the ground. Your time and initiative will be valued if you plant 3 plants or 20. The fun is in participating alongside friends and the large community of like minded folks. There will be plenty of moms and dads, grandparents and parents with children, leaders and leaders in the making, i.e. Scouts, USNA, Maryland Conservation Corps, and STEM students. There will be Bay advocates and WSA Master Watershed Stewards, Master Gardeners, etc. It is awesome to be surrounded by these people. Come and be a part of something BIG. Won't it be a joy to say to the next ge n eration 10 years from now when you visit this blue and green ecosystem restored in the midst of an urban landscape,"Here are the trees and shrubs I planted when this project was first launched."

I hope to see you soon!

Betsy Love


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