• Overview: Methodology to restore, enhance, and evaluate, restoration of riparian wetlands is being evaluated in field scale studies.

 
• Goal: Quantify relationships between hydrology, water chemistry, and water quality in restored riparian wetlands and evaluate the potential for managing hydrology, water chemistry, and water quality functions.

 
• Drainage is a necessary management practice for land use in eastern North Carolina and most of the Coastal plain areas of the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern U.S. The drainage in place today resulted form over two centuries of dredging and channelization of natural streams. One of the negative impacts of channelization is the natural riparian wetland/floodplain adjacent to the stream/channel is no longer functional. The channel rarely overflows it's banks, thus the riparian floodplain is no longer hydraulically connected to the stream. In landscapes with modest relief, it may be possible to restore some of the riparian wetland/floodplain function by modifying the channel geometry and raising the base elevation of the channel without diminishing the drainage capacity of the system to convey storm flows. Field scale studies are underway to develop and evaluate methods for restoring hydrologic function to the riparian floodplain and evaluate the influence of the restored hydrology on stream water chemistry and water quality. Study sites are located in Craven and Currituck counties..

 
• Cooperators: Billy Dunham (Craven CES), David Hardy (Neuse Education Team), Dwane Hinson (NRCS), Rodney Johnson (Albemarle RC & D).

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