The Sassafras River Association (SRA) is excited to be working on its second treatment wetland in the watershed, scheduled to be completed by Fall of 2012. The project will be constructed on a Kent County dairy operation, just downstream from the lagoon manure storage system, and will capture the majority of the runoff from the operation. The Kent Soil and Water Conservation District, along with NRCS, and Sustainable Science LLC will partner with SRA to ensure the project moves forward smoothly and that the wetland will function as intended. Treatment wetlands are extremely efficient at processing and cycling nitrogen and phosphorus, and removing sediment from the water column. This practice is often used in stormwater and sewage treatment applications, but remains relatively untested within agricultural operations.
SRA hopes to produce valuable data regarding effectiveness of nutrient removal in high flow/elevated nutrient scenarios downstream from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). This data, which will be collected and analyzed through a collaborative partnership with University of Delaware, will hopefully inform future wetland design, as well as provide support for inclusion of treatment wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay water quality model. SRA will also present the resulting data to the technical review committee at NRCS and push for federal cost share funding to expand the practice across the bay watershed. The Sassafras Watershed Action Plan calls for 10 treatment wetlands to be designed and constructed in order to meet the Sassafras River TMDL.
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