Sponsor: NCSU Sea Grant Program
Start Date: 1/01/12
End Date: 7/31/13
Abstract
In 2010, North Carolina Sea Grant was awarded grant funding from the NC Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program and matching funds from Currituck County to retrofit an existing stormwater pond located at the NC Cooperative Extension Services? Center in Currituck County off Highway 158. The retrofit work included excavation of two aquatic benches and installation of native wetland, riparian and wildlife plantings. A mini-grant was obtained from North Carolina Sea Grant to collect ?before? data as a first step in a study effort designed to determine whether the emergent vegetation and wetland shelves provided additional nutrient and sediment removal benefits beyond those of a standard wet detention pond. As such, two-automated water quality samplers were installed at the inflow and outflow for the pond and nine inflow and outflow sampling efforts were made during and between storm events over a three month period in 2011 before the emergent vegetation became established.
This proposal requests additional funding to continue inflow and outflow storm sampling at the pond and to install a second automated water quality sampler at a newly established stormwater inflow pipe to the pond. This pipe was added during construction of the YMCA.
Specific objectives of the proposed water quality monitoring work are to:
1. Determine if nutrient and suspended sediment removal rates increase as a result of establishment of aquatic wetland vegetation and shoreline grasses along the perimeter of the pond.
2. Determine how nutrient and sediment removal rates at the Currituck Pond, which includes wetland vegetation, compare to other coastal plain stormwater ponds that lack wetland and shoreline vegetation (as reported in the scientific literature).
3. Document the length of time for stabilization of the pond?s watershed to occur as a result of successful establishment of ground covers (grass, etc.) following cessation of land disturbance activities associated with the construction of the YMCA facility. Stability will be detected by measured reductions in inflow pollutant concentrations.