Nearly four centuries of intense land use have threatened the health of the Potomac watershed. Acid mine drainage and agriculture have polluted the Potomac River, and rapidly expanding urban populations and urban sprawl have created a host of problems, from stormwater runoff and altered streams to fragmented forests and destruction of critical fish and wildlife habitat.

As a major tributary of the Potomac, the Shenandoah River has suffered from three major threats: sedimentation, nutrient loading, and industrial discharges. Point-source pollutants include industrial wastes, inadequately treated sewage, and solid wastes, and non-point-source pollutants include agricultural and urban run-off and erosion from poor sedimentation control.

On private lands, DU is teaming up with private landowners to restore wetlands in areas that have been drained or degraded. DU biologists identify potential wetland restoration sites and then provide the landowner with a design, engineered to facilitate the flooding of acreage in increments up to 24 inches deep; a management plan; and cost share assistance for the habitat improvements. One such example can be seen on Bill King’s “Quail by the Creek Farm” in New Market, Virginia.

By restoring approximately two acres of wetlands with a low-level berm and installing an inline water control structure, DU will improve water quality, provide flood retention, and afford much needed habitat to migrating waterfowl and other wetland dependant species. DU will also be restoring two acres of native warm season grasses on the King farm, which will be planted around the wetland. As water passes through the grass buffers, the grasses provide preliminary filtering of any heavy sediment. Then, water flows into the restored wetland, which filters out many pollutants, sediments, and nutrients, making water that passes through much cleaner and healthier for the watershed.