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Watts Branch Watershed Restoration, Montgomery County, MD
The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection is studying each watershed within Montgomery County to identify areas with poor stream conditions that are attributable to past development with insufficient stormwater controls.
AMT studied the Watts Branch watershed, located in the Potomac. The first step of the project ranked smaller sub-watersheds by current conditions of the stream and the land cover. The Rapid Stream Assessment Technique (RSAT) was used to evaluate stream channel conditions. These results along with the results of the County-wide Stream Protection Strategy and the percentage of impervious cover were used to select targeted areas with the greatest need for improvement projects.
Stream Restoration: 10 stream miles were walked stream and restoration concepts were developed for these areas.
Stormwater Management: AMT considered dozens of new and retrofit stormwater sties. The retrofit sites include ponds designed in the 1970's and early 1980's. The new sites are in denser neighborhoods that have undeveloped land available. Possible projects were evaluated and the best options developed into concept designs, meeting current stormwater management guidelines. These designs were presented to the public at a meeting and through an action plan.
The Watts Branch Watershed Restoration Study goals were unique compared to most of AMT's projects because the focus is on environmental protection without associated new development. The project also required large scale analysis - the entire 22 square mile watershed was modeled using TR-55 and TR-20. GIS was utilized to determine land cover for imperviousness and runoff curve numbers, to identify potential restoration sites, and to present the study results in a graphical format for public display. The end result of the project is an action plan for citizens benefit and a technical report that will be used by MCDEP to obtaining grant and CIP funds to do full design and construction.
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