Restoring life in and around Watts Branch

As you may or may not be aware, the City of Rockville is actively trying to protect the three watersheds that we contribute to: Cabin John Creek, Watts Branch and Rock Creek. On Saturday, I had a chance to go and take a first-hand look at what some of the problems are with the Watts Branch Creek, and what is being done to address those problems, through the City's Community Stream Walk. I went expecting that it would be mildly interesting, and thinking that I could at least report back to our civic association about what was being done there. It turned out to be a very fun morning, tromping around through the woods and the creek, and chatting with some very interesting and enthusiastic City staff from the Department of Public Works (Susan Straus, Chief of Engineering and Lise Soukup, Environmental Engineer), the Environmental Group Leader from URS (Ted Hogan), the consultant for the project, a Forestry technician (Paula Perez), and other Rockville residents (Patrice Lucid and Tim Downey and his kids).

We started out the tour at a point in Watts Branch Creek behind the lower baseball field in Woodley Gardens Park. (I'm kicking myself for not bringing my PhotoTrackr with me so I could accurately pinpoint the place each photo was taken on a map -- maybe I'll go back and try to retrace our steps sometime and do that). At that point, the creek makes a wide curve outward (foreground of photo below) from its original path (back of photo), causing the buildup of a whole new island of sediment in that curve, and putting so much force against the bank that it is constantly eroding, to the point where many trees now have their roots exposed (photo, right side) and are thus in danger of falling, and the sewer manhole that previously lay underground is now completely exposed (far right of photo). I had no idea that a lazy little creek like Watts Branch appears to be could make such a huge change to the landscape.

The work needed to rectify that is pretty major, and involves filling in the whole area where the "new" creek is, and the sediment island, and causing the creek to resume its original path along a straight and less destructive course. It's not just a case of dump and fill, though -- instead, each area is sandbagged while it is being worked on, with the creek diverted so that wildlife is minimally disturbed, and then un-sandbagged again when that area is complete and the next is begun.

Tim Downey's kids reminded us of the importance of this stream restoration, not only for the health of the creek and surrounding woods, but also for the enjoyment of our kids and future generations. While the adults walked along the shore, the kids splashed along in the creek, looking for fish and crawfish and turtles, all of which they've seen here before. It was good to hear that the creek is still teeming with life, and fun to see kids enjoying it so.

Remnants of old sewer lines that are no longer used will also be removed as part of the project. A side note: on a hike like this, it's a good idea to wear long pants, to keep out poison ivy, thorny plants, bugs, etc, and it's an especially good idea to wear light-colored ones (as Paula is doing in the photo) not just because they're cooler, but because that makes it easier to spot and remove ticks.

Another thing I learned is that that ordinary-looking plant in the photo below (which I see all around the wild areas of Rockville) is a Spice Bush, which according to this page has been used to treat coughs, colds, delayed menstruation, croup, measles, chronic arthritis, flatulence, colic and mild skin irritations, such as rashes, itching, and bruises. I can't vouch for any of that (and will add a disclaimer that you should not try any of that without checking with someone who knows a lot more than me), but I did find out (from Lise?) that the leaves have a lovely spicy smell when crushed. Who'd have guessed?

More evidence of erosion from a creek that carved a new path. I think it is in this location that a whole section of sewer line will need to be rerouted because there is no way to mitigate the erosion and damage otherwise without removing a lot of existing trees. Every effort is made to keep existing trees in place and healthy; Lise and Paula mentioned that in portions of other creeks in Rockville, large boulders have been placed below the exposed roots of trees along the stream bank, to help them continue to pull nutrients from the soil on the other side and prevent them from toppling, as the tree in the background of this picture has done.

Strange to see this manhole cover 6 feet up in the air. It will be at level ground again (in a different location) when the stream restoration is complete though.

The best part of the morning was the hike through creek and weeds (thanks to Tim for providing several of us with walking sticks and a hand up and down the banks) to get to this pool at the base of a storm drain on Winder Court (in my neighborhood). The drain itself has already been reinforced (as have other storm drains) by adding a base of concrete to the existing steel pipe. In the upcoming project, the stream will be diverted to flow more directly out of the storm drain to prevent so much pooling and erosion.

The group discusses the plan to deal with this badly eroded portion of the creek, which involves putting down a layer of cobbles, then boulders, that allow water to flow through, and topping it all with a layer of mulch and vegetation. It won't even look like a creek anymore, but will still allow the passage of water underground.

The second-to-last stop on our "tour" was this storm drain under Nelson Street, near the intersection with College Parkway. Ted Hogan notes the collapsing retaining wall, which will be shored up, and other group members notice some live creatures in the water.

Tim pulls a beauty out of the water: a 3 or 4 inch crawfish (dead, unfortunately, but still pretty cool-looking).

Walking to our final destination, an area behind Owens Street, took us through this lovely patch of ferns. I love looking at this and knowing an area like this exists on the edge of my very suburban neighborhood.

This was the last stop of the morning, a place which I'll call "Tim's creek" since Tim has done a lot of work on his own to try and help control erosion and create pools where fish can thrive. He dragged blocks into place near the storm drain outlet to funnel the water into a straighter course, and build up a series of rock dams that have an opening in the middle to allow water to flow through into a pool below.

Ted Hogan explains the plan for this area of the creek, which works on the same principles as what Tim has done and expands on that. It involves installing a series of alternating riffles and U-shaped rock dams along the stream. A riffle is a shallow stretch of stones in the stream which allow the current to move quickly, forming small ripples on the surface. The rock dams, which are u-shaped and open downward, are built with higher sides and a lower central area that helps funnel the water along the desired path.

My thanks to the City for not only pursuing this ambitious work of restoring our beautiful streams, but for providing an opportunity to find out about all the details in such a hands-on way. I look forward to seeing the project go forward (expected to begin some time this winter or spring and take about a year to complete), and to finding out more about the variety of wildlife we have right here in our collective backyard.