Farm Pond to be Transformed

    For now, it’s just an old farm pond. But in a matter of weeks, the pond at the Davidsonville Wildlife Sanctuary will be transformed.
    The pond will be smaller and will flow into a series of wetlands that cascade downhill into a pipe that empties into Beards Creek across the road. Atlantic white cedar trees, winterberry bushes and bog plants will sprout in and around the wetlands.  The water flowing out of the wetlands should have much less bacteria, nutrients and sediment that foul the creek, if all goes well.
    The wildlife sanctuary and the South River Federation came together after both discovered issues related to the property.  The back section of the sanctuary’s property has high-voltage electric lines running through where BGE cut down trees, to the sanctuary’s dismay. The loss of trees has meant that when it rains, sediment is washed into the pond and the creek.  Stormwater comes all the way from across from Riva Road, which is to the west, behind the power lines.
    Meanwhile, the South River Federation’s volunteers have regularly found high counts of pollutants — especially harmful bacteria — at a monitoring station just downstream of the sanctuary.
    A watershed assessment — basically a review of potential pollution sources on the land all around the river — indicated the wildlife sanctuary’s pond was an area that could be improved, said Erik Michelsen, executive director of the federation.
    For a much more complete description of this project,  go to:
http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/environment/our-bay-from-pond-to-wetlands-at-wildlife-sanctuary/article_d7aab84a-05ce-5bd3-9e33-3408c1c7782d.html