Creating a Floodplain Wetland to Protect Water Quality in the White Clay Creek National Wild and Scenic River Watershed
Date
2011
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The Cool Run tributary of the White Clay Creek drains land on the UD campus and in the City of Newark. It has long been negatively impacted by nonpoint pollution from urban, industrial, and agricultural sources and is listed by the US EPA as an impaired water body for nutrients, dissolved oxygen, bacteria, and sediments. In 2008, the UD WATER team analyzed stormwater pollutant loads in the Cool Run Watershed and recommended increasing the number and acreage of wetlands in the watershed to improve water quality and ecosystem health.
Project: A section of low quality pasture was removed from agricultural use to create a healthy, functioning floodplain wetland, thus reducing pollutant load to the White Clay Creek by filtering stormwater runoff. This wetland, along with others created on the farm, will also create stormwater storage, important to prevention of downstream flooding. This project illustrates how the University partners with the City to manage land in the White Clay Creek watershed in a manner that improves water quality. Wildlife habitat will be created and enhanced, increasing the diversity of species on the farm and campus, an important component of UD efforts to be a more sustainable university.