Habitat development utilizing dredged material at Barren Island Dorchester County, Maryland

Abstract

In the fall of 1981, the Corps of Engineers dredged the Federal channel from Chesapeake Bay to Honga River, Dorchester County, Maryland. Approximately 135, 831 m3 of fine-grained sediments were hydraulically deposited at a single unconfined location in shallow water from 1,188–1,859 m from the dredge. Fish and wildlife habitats were developed by controlling the direction of the discharge pipe to provide designed dredged material elevations and configuration, and by conducting post-disposal landscaping. Ten months following dredging, the stable dredged material placement site consisted of ca. 4.4 ha of floweringSpartinaalterniflora (247–652 stems/m2) derived from seeding, ca. 2.0 ha ofSpartinapatens (30 to 689 stems/m2) derived from transplanting, ca. 2.0 ha of unvegetated bird nesting area at elevations up to 0.6 m above theS.patens, 2.4 ha of tidal flat sparsely vegetated byS.alterniflora, and a 4 ha tidal pond. The nesting area was abundantly used by least terns during the spring and early summer of 1982. The project costs were approximately 40% less than a traditional confined dredged material placement option.