Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy, working with many partners including: Oakland View Farm, Mason’s Heritage Farm, Maryland Department of Agriculture, Caroline County Soil Conservation, United States Fish and Wildlife, and Maryland Department of Natural Resources has implemented the first two woodchip bioreactors and denitrification walls on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. One bioreactor and one denitrification wall were constructed on Oakland View Farm in Ridgely and on Mason’s Heritage Farm in Centreville.
Woodchip bioreactors are a new edge of field practice first developed in the Midwest a decade ago to help treat water passing through drainage tile lines. The bioreactor mimics the ecosystem services that are performed by small streams and wetlands, helping treat excess nitrate in runoff passing through drainage tile lines draining from a farm. The practice ties in near the end of the drainage tile line and using an inline water control structure, diverts low flows into a trench filled with woodchips and allows high flows to bypass the practice down the drain tile line.
The trench is the perfect environment for the consumption of nitrate, with the woodchips providing a home and food for bacteria that eat nitrate. Results from the Midwest indicate that nitrate concentration leaving farms can be reduced between 30-80% using such a system: the higher the load and wetter the system, the more efficient the practice. Denitrification walls work in a similar fashion, but instead of tying into the drainage tile line, a trench is dug at the edge of a field and filled with a 1 to 1 mixture of sawdust and soil. The wall intercepts and treats shallow groundwater moving off the farm field and has the potential to reduce shallow groundwater nitrate by more than 90%. Both practices are edge of field and are located underground meaning they take minimal to no land out of production and once planted over with grasses are not noticeable.
Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy is eager to see the results of these new practices and is looking to work with any landowner who may be interested in implementing these practices or would like more information. An free informational breakfast will be occurring on Wednesday February 26 at 8am at the American Legion Hall in Denton, Caroline County that outlines how the practices work and will also include a field trip to the sites to see the practices in person.
For more details contact Timothy Rosen at 443 385 0511 or [email protected].
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.