Wetland Restorations in the Sandusky River Watershed

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Wetland Restorations in the Sandusky River
Watershed

• By Ann Keefe
• Wildlife Specialist
• Seneca S.W.C.D.

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Habitat for Healthy Water
Improving Water Quality in Ohios Critical
Coastal Area through Wetland Restoration
Heather Braun and Ann Keefe Ducks Unlimited, Inc.
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Classes of Freshwater Marshes
Hydric Soil Hydric Vegetation Presence of Water
Wet Meadow
Shallow hemi-marsh
Open water marsh
Shrub-scrub
moist soil
Deep water marsh
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Wetland Complex Example
Hemi-marsh
Open w/SAV
Shallow/Moist Soil
Wet Meadow
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Wetland Loss gt 90
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Wetlands Water QualityNPS Pollution is a Big
Concern
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Sandusky BayCauses of Nonpoint Source Impairment

• Organic enrichment
• Dissolved oxygen
• Habitat alteration
• Flow alteration
• Siltation

235-700 metric tons of sediment annually
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Office of Coastal Management

• Coordinate Ohios Coastal Nonpoint Pollution
  Control Program

Slide provided by ODNR Coastal Management
Program, 2003)
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Habitat Alteration
Intensive Agriculture and Urban Sprawl Result in
major wetland losses
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Wetland Benefits

• Wildlife habitat
• Groundwater recharge
• Flood storage
• Water quality
• often overlooked !!

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Flood Protection

• Wetlands associated with rivers and lakes capture
  and retain water, reducing the duration and
  severity of foods.
• Inland wetlands intercept surface flow and slow
  it down, reducing the potential for floods and
  minimizing drought.

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Sandusky County Wetland outlets to Karst sinkhole
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Wetland Water Quality Benefit

• DNAP stream monitoring
• seine Raccoon Creek
• seine adjacent wetland
• You compare!!!

 
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Biological Activity Tremendous in Wetlands
compared to adjacentimpacted stream
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Wetland Benefits - Water Quality

• Nutrient and sediment sinks
• 80 removal of nitrates
• 92 removal of phosphorous
• Sediment reduction linked to hydrology
• 90 reduction of coliform bacteria
• Pesticide reduction

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Grassland Benefits

• Nesting cover for wildlife
• Restore native ecosystem
• Absorb 7 1/2 inches of rain per hour
• Water quality
• gt75 removal of sediment
• 67-96 reduction in nitrogen
• 27-97 reduction phosphorous
• 74 reduction of fecal coliform
• 8-100 reduction pesticides

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Wetlands Programs..
NAWCA
Habitat For Healthy Water
ODNR-DOW
CCRP
CREP
WHIP
CRP
WRP
USFWS
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Habitat For Healthy WaterProgram
Ducks Unlimited Erie SWCD Green Creek Hunt
Club Ohio EPA ODNR-Div. Of Wildlife ODNR-Div. Of
Soil Water Ottawa SWCD Sandusky NRCS Sandusky
River Watershed Coalition Sandusky SWCD Seneca
SWCD Winous Point Marsh Conservancy
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The basics of wetland funding

• All programs provide cost-share-50 or greater
• Some provide annual rental payments for
  short-term (i.e. 10-30 years), rates determined
  by soil productivity and by which program you
  choose (paid more for longer years)
• Some programs provide one time bonuses (i.e. CREP
  pays 500 one time bonus)
• Or, some provide lump sum payments for long term
  easements on deeds (up to 2500 per acre one time
  for WRP)

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Land Before Restoration
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10.9 ac near Muddy Creek before restoration
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Project Eligibility and Evaluation

• Location
• Ohio Coastal Zone?Impaired Streams?Karst
  Region?
• gt 50 hydric soils?
• Land use and site characteristics
• Tile in area?
• Size
• Proximity to conservation lands
• Proximity to other BMPs
• Length of contract

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Wetland Restoration

• Survey and design
• PermitsArmy Corps, EPA, NEPA, SHIPO
• Construction management
• Management plan

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Basic Restoration Techniques
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CREP Wetland Seneca County July 11, 2005 Remove
topsoil under footprint of dike
Leave all other hydric soil areas as undisturbed
as possible
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July 2005 Build dike with pan
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Long process to compact 6 at time
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Remember to keep toe clear
Allows gentle slope 31 or greater? more natural
transition, limits seepage
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Wetland Sept 2005
Dikes are seeded in August, and begin to green up
by September. Water begins to pool in borrow
areas.
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Sept 2005 first wetland plants germinate
Crop field begins to flood and wetland plants
start to replace the soybeans.
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April 19, 2006 wetland fills with spring rains
wildlife moved in
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Shorebirds, teal, mallards, geese, numerous
amphibians, wetland plants
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Good buffers make good wetlands!
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Muddy Creek Wetland before and after
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Lake Erie Wetland RestorationErie County
BEFORE
AFTER
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Close-up of Erie CountyWetland Construction
AFTER
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Pickerel Creek Wetland
BEFORE
AFTER
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Conclusions and Recommendations

• Landowners want programs that restore wetlands
• Wetlands are an overlooked component of approach
  to watershed health
• More research and monitoring to determine
  relative effectiveness of wetlands
• Partnerships are the key to accomplishing common
  goals

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Thank-you!