This is a two-stage multi-earthcache in a suburban neighborhood near the University of Maryland, College Park.
Both stages can be driven to or one may park at stage one and walk/stroll to stage two.
Logging Requirements:
1. Please list the name of this cache
2. At location 1 -- identify ONE visible type of restoration that is helping improve the quality of the stream. You may consult the nearby information panel for hints at what you might see at this location.
3. At location 2 -- (waypoint ST2 N38 58.200 W 076 56.644) stand on the bridge and identify and describe a CROSS VANE or ROCK VANE (See images and description below).
4. Describe the GEOLOGICAL/HYDROLOGICAL VALUE of the Stream Restoration Project to this community.
5. (optional) Pictures are always appreciated.
The Wells Run Stream Restoration Project (WSRP) consists of the restoration and stabilization of 3,300 linear feet of stream that flows through the town of University Park. The restoration of this stream will improve water quality by preventing sediment runoff and serve as a natural filter to capture pollution before it enters the Northeast Branch of the Anacostia River. It is one of many projects instituted or planned to reverse the heavily polluted state of the Anacostia River system.
Sediment and pollution from small streams like this one are causing major problems downstream in our rivers and in the Chesapeake Bay. Sediment moving freely downstream (unhindered) carries pollutants along with it such as phosphorus and nitrogen. It also destroys habitat for small fish and insects living on the bottom of these waterways and creates anoxic conditions in the water, causing fish kills.
As you walk along the stream, you need to observe the improvements that this project has already made. Where there were once bare, steaply eroded banks, there now are gently sloped, stable banks vegetated with shrubs and trees, and in some places, solid rock walls. You can also see rock and log vanes in the stream directing flows and creating aquatic habitat. The efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay begin in the smal subsidiary creeks such as this one, Wells Run.
How are they connected you might ask? The answer is Watersheds. Tiny streams such as Wells Run feed into larger streams, which feed into the Anocostia River whih feeds into the Chesapeake Bay.
A watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place. Thus, the water that starts here in Wells Run will ALL end up in the Chesapeake Bay. Water moves downstream in a watershed. Any activity that affects water quality, quantity or rate of movement at one location, therefore, can change the characteristics of the watershed at all locations downstream. Thus, everyone living or working within a watershed needs to cooperate to assure good watershed conditions.
At stage 2, you are attempting to identify several features that are part of this restoration project. Of the many In-stream features installed throught the WRSRP, some can easily be seem from the bridge or nearby streambanks and some cannot. The more easily visible/identifyable features include the imbricated rip-rap walls, step pools, and rock cross vanes. Other features are located just above or beneath the water and are therefore more visible during low-water seasons -- these include the log vanes and rock vanes.
there are three types of vanes that help support the healthy stream -- cross vanes, log vanes, and rock vanes. All of these are put in place to help control and redirect currents and current velocity (speed) throughout the stream. They limit the EROSION on the outer banks by reducing the fast flows that naturally would occur near the banks. As a result they also eliminate SEDIMENTATION downstream. Please consult the diagram then look upstream and downstream to attempt to identify at least one.
You should be able to easily identify the rip-rap walls. Rip-rap walls armour the banks of the stream because they are constructed of large rocks interlocked together. This creates a stable bank in areas where the stream could not be graded back because of a large tree that needed to be saved or a trail or sewer line that was already located there. At the base of the stream is cobble -- large rocks that cannot be moved even during a flood event. Again, the goal is to largely eliminate EROSION and SEDIMENTATION downstream.
Thank you for taking the time to slow down on your way to the playground or dog-walking expedition to evaluate the value of this stream for our local environment.