Location: Woodbine, MD along the Cattail Creek in Patuxent Watershed
Type of buffer: Stream and Agriculture
Partners involved: Howard County, WSSC, MDE, MALPF, MDA, Howard Soil Conservation District
Project cost: approximately $4 million
Submitted by: Lindsay DeMarzo, Howard County, Maryland, Office of Community Sustainability
Maple Dell Farm Stream Before Restoration
Background
Maple Dell Farm, Inc. is a 96-acre active dairy and row crop farm, the only remaining active dairy farm in Howard County, Maryland. The farm is located on either side of Cattail Creek, within the Brighton Dam subwatershed of the Patuxent River. Two smaller channels merge on the northwestern portion of the Farm to form the mainstem of Cattail Creek, which continues east through the Farm directly to the Triadelphia Reservoir, a major drinking water source for over a half million residents in Montgomery, Prince George’s, and Howard counties.
Maple Dell Farm-Tree Planting
In 2013 the Patrick family, multi-generational owners of the farm, reached out to the County concerned by the deterioration of the stream. The family purchased the land generations ago because of the stream and recognized the importance of protecting local waterways.
Approximately 200 cattle accessed the stream at designated locations for watering and crossing to pastures on the opposite bank of Cattail Creek, as well as roamed throughout the floodplain on the Farm. Because of the heavy use this land saw daily, extreme erosion was evident along the entire stream and heavy sedimentation was visible in the stream. The majority of the stream channel had no trees or vegetation lining the banks and averaged a 4-foot eroded bank throughout the property. Significant levels of nitrogen and phosphorus entered the stream from waste while the cattle are in the stream and floodplain, as well as, waste runoff from the adjoining pasture, feed lot, and milking barn.
Maple Dell Farm Tree Planting 2
Justification
Restoring this particular stream section and the associated buffer provided many benefits. The stream channel running through the farm is a Green Infrastructure Network corridor providing a unique habitat link connecting the Patapsco and Patuxent Watersheds. Further, the property falls just upstream from a threatened species habitat, as defined by Maryland Department of Natural Resources, therefore ecosystem restoration could provide habitat opportunities for this species, as well as countless others within the habitat corridor, to flourish. Since the stream drains to the reservoir, the reduction of nitrogen and phosphorous improves the drinking water supply. The cattle would be provided new well-fed drinking water troughs which could improve their health, rather than drinking from the stream. Finally a forested buffer, would not only aide in absorbing water, but also serve as the primary filter for rainwater flowing off of the farming operations and pasture filled with manure before reaching the stream.
The Project
Maple Dell Farm-Tree Planting 3
A combination of Priority I and Priority II natural stream channel restoration of the approximately 6,200 linear feet of stream and riparian wetland occurred in 2018 to include a combination of log and boulder vanes, brush toes, root wads, stone and woody riffle grade controls, coir matting and bank modification. Field areas adjacent to the stream and restored wetland were created to temporarily hold, infiltrate, and treat stormwater flow, restoring the groundwater table and returning the historic hydrology to the land. The project fenced cattle out of approximately 15 acres of floodplain, previously used as pasture.
Maple Dell Farm After Restoration
Native herbaceous and forested plant communities were reestablished in the project area to create a 15 acre stream buffer (approximately 50 feet in width per side from top of bank), reduce erosion, filter nutrients flowing from the pastures and farm areas, and slow stormwater flowing to the stream. The buffer plantings included rouhgly 650 2” caliper trees, over 1,770 tubelings, and approximately 27,000 live stakes.
While the property was already under a Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) easement, ensuring it remains farmland forever, the 15 acre stream buffer is also now protected under a perpetual environmental easement with Howard County. This was the first environmental overlay easement provided by MALPF and set the stage for future opportunities for farmers.
Maple Dell Farm 2 Years after Restoration
The stream stabilization and restoration, buffer, and livestock exclusion were completed in early 2019 and provide impervious treatment to 155 acres in the watershed. In 2021, Howard County coordinated with the neighboring property to expand the stream buffer even further by planting 120 trees throughout one acre on their property which adjoined the existing buffer.
This post Is part of the fifth annual CCLC Riparian Buffer Month.
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