The Bioretention Swale

Innovation is the key to meeting development needs while maintaining environmental integrity. One of the newest such innovations is the bioretention swale, or bioswale. Sometimes referred to as “engineered ditches”, these low-impact stormwater management systems are gaining a lot of attention from engineers, designers, and others.

The North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR and ACE Basin NERR Coastal Training Pro-grams, along with a slew of part-ners, hosted three days of training workshops on bioswale design and installation to meet the demand for knowledge on the subject among those who are responsible for seeing these new ideas implemented on the ground.

At the end of October, about 75 engineers, architects, designers, planners, stormwater managers, develop-ers, and others traveled from as far away as Savannah, GA and South Carolina’s upstate to attend these work-shops. The days began with technical design seminars by Mike Horton of Davis & Floyd Engineering, and Elias Deeb of The Noisette Company. They are project co-ordinators for the redevelopment of Oak Terrace Pre-serve, a North Charleston community that is being revitalized and retrofit with a number of low impact stormwater practices, including bioswales.

North INlet - WINyah Bay NatIoNal estuarINe research reserve

Estuaries Il lustratedVolume 1, Issue 3 Fall 2008

More than just a ditch!After a classroom-based seminar, participants were transported to the Oak Terrace Preserve. Participants had the opportunity to see first-hand what a finished bioswale looks like and how it functions, as well as bio-swale preconstruction on some of the site’s future de-velopment phases. By the end of the day, participants were well-versed on how bioswales far exceed the standard stormwater drainage ditch. These swales are not constructed in isolation, however. The entire Oak Terrace Preserve site has been designed with storm-water in mind, and includes pervious paver alleyways and pocket parks into which the bioswales drain, all of which together provide additional stormwater fil-tration and retention prior to ultimate discharge into local Filbin Creek. Some homes will also have rain gar-dens and rain barrels for additional retention.

It’s important for engineers to see how these systems are designed on paper, as well as how they are con-structed in the field. The Oak Terrace Preserve devel-opment offers an additional bonus of many lessons learned for those interested in installing bioswales elsewhere, and gaining acceptance for these tech-niques among permitting agencies, local government, and the public. It also gets people thinking outside the box when they see a site that has been designed com-prehensively to address stormwater quality and quan-tity. Bioswales- continued on page 7

When vegetation is completely estab-lished, the bioswales will create attractive and functional landscaping features be-tween the streets and homes of the Oak

Terrace Preserve neighborhood.

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“…two species that also occur in the adjacent salt shrub thickets intermix with the short Spartina: sea laven-der…and salt marsh aster…adding a touch of color to the otherwise drab salt marshes.”

A Guide to Wildflowers of South Carolina, Porcher and Rayner, 2001.

Obviously Porcher and Rayner were not describing a South Carolina salt marsh in the fall. Fall color in south-eastern salt marshes may be a little more subtle than the orange sugar maples of the north, but the autumn

yellows, oranges and reds can be seen here too. Com-mon glasswort forms mats of orange-red across the high marsh and in the low marsh the cordgrass develops a golden shade. Goldenrod along the marsh edge blooms in September and October and is a good place to look for bees and butterflies. In November the berries of the yaupon holly develop their glossy red color.

Autumn is also a good time to welcome back the many bird species that spend the winter along the South Caro-lina coast. Black-bellied plo-vers return from the Arctic (without their black bellies).

Also returning from the north are the Dunlin (the most abundant wintering shorebird), the greater and lesser yellowlegs, semipalmated plovers, and the endangered piping plover. Beaches, sand bars, and mud flats pro-vide important roosting and feeding habitats for these birds which must rest and store energy for the long mi-grations back to their breeding grounds, so please take care to avoid disturbing them. Minimize boat wake around roosting areas, keep dogs from running loose and chasing birds, walk around resting or feeding birds,

and observe birds from a distance great enough that they do not show signs of agitation.

Of course, the most appetizing event of fall in coastal South Carolina is the opening of oyster and clam sea-son, which generally runs mid-September to mid-May. South Carolina residents can buy an annual shellfish harvesting license for $10, and according to the state Department of Natural Resources, roughly 80,000 resi-dents buy one yearly. Two U.S. Bushels of oysters and one-half U.S. Bushel of clams may be harvested per person, per day. Oyster roasts are a culturally and eco-nomically important right of winter and early spring in the lowcountry. How-ever, the closing of oys-ter canneries and most shucking houses and the increasing popularity of backyard oyster roasts, after which shells typi-cally end up in driveways and landfills, have con-tributed to a shortage of shucked oyster shell needed to cultivate oys-ter beds. Sixteen oyster shell drop-off sites have been established by DNR in convenient locations along the SC coast in order to encourage the recycling of oyster shells. To learn more about the South Carolina Oyster Restoration and Enhancement program, visit http://score.dnr.sc.gov/.

sssSeason’s Greetings Fall at North Inlet-Winyah Bay

Cordgrass (top), golden rod (middle) and yaupon holly (bottom) provide fall color in coastal South Carolina.

North INlet-WINyah Bay Nerr 3

NI-WB Staff attend National Meeting in CaliforniaStaff members from the 27 Na-tional Estuarine Research Re-serves came together at the Asilo-mar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, California, for the annual National Estuarine Research Re-serve System/National Estuarine Research Reserve Association meeting. The theme of this year’s meeting was “NERRS and Sea level Change: Focusing Partner-ships and Integration for a Chang-ing Coast.” Dr. Joshua Collins, Environmental Scientist, San Francisco Estuary Institute, Dr. Kirstin Dow, Associ-ate Professor, University of South Carolina, Dr. Amber Pairis, Climate Change Advisor, California Department Fish & Game, and Dr. John Day, Distinguished Profes-sor Emeritus, Dept. of Oceanography and Coastal Sci-ences, Louisiana State University provided information and insight on estuarine science and stewardship in the context of climate change and sea level rise. Par-ticipants then met in small break-out groups to discuss a NERR system-wide, multi-disciplinary approach for addressing sea level change and enhancing coastal sus-tainability.

Speakers Bill Dennison, Vice President, Science Appli-cations, Integration and Application Network, and Dale Willman, Executive Editor, Field Notes Productions, presented at a plenary session “Putting NERRs Science to Work to Build Resilient Natural and Social Systems.” Other topics of discussion included the benefits and application of social science within the NERRs; creating conservation programming; how to prioritize, design,

and implement research that gets applied; and ap-plications of advanced technology to reserve re-search, stewardship and education programs.

There was also time to ex-plore Monterey Bay and the surrounding areas. Attend-ees had a unique opportu-

nity to experience the Monterey Bay Aquarium during an evening recep-tion, and explored the site of the host reserve, Elkhorn Slough NERR, during a day of field trips and work-shops. The Elkhorn Slough reserve encompasses the largest tract of tid-al salt marsh in California outside of San Francisco Bay and provides habi-tat for hundreds of species of plants and animals in oak woodlands, tidal creeks, and freshwater marshes.

The Asilomar State Beach and Conference Grounds was originally established in 1913 as a YWCA retreat. Noted architect Julia Morgan designed eleven of the Arts & Crafts architec-tural style buildings that make up the 107-acre protected retreat. In 1956, Asilomar and the property along the coast-line became a unit of the California State Park System, which protects Monterey Pine, Coast Live Oak forest, a Natural Dune Preserve and rocky coastline habitats.

Next year’s annual NERRS/NERRA meeting will be host-ed by the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Re-serve at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego.

Relaxing California style: Sea lions find a convenient napping place in Monterey Bay (left). Monarch butterflies rest in trees at a sanctuary in Pacific Grove (right).

Election day rainbow at Asilomar Beach.

An historic building at Asilomar designed by Julia Morgan.

An evening reception was held at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

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Stash Your Trash!

Marine debris is defined as any man-made object that enters the marine environment due to processes in-cluding careless handling or disposal, intentional or unintentional release of materials, or as a result of natural disasters and storms. Wildlife can be injured or killed by ingestion and entanglement in debris. Clean-up costs, lost revenue from tourism and reductions in property associated with marine debris also affect coastal communities.

The National Marine Debris Moni-toring Program (NMDMP) was developed to create a standard-ized method of monitoring marine debris on beaches in the United States. Over a five-year study pe-riod, land-based sources were found to be responsible for ap-proximately 49 % of marine debris items along beaches. These sourc-es include municipal landfills and the transport of litter and waste, storm water discharge, industrial and manufac-

turing, and improper waste man-agement. Ocean-based sources such as merchant shipping, ferries and cruise liners, fishing vessels, public and private vessels, offshore oil and gas platforms, drilling rigs, aquacul-ture installations, and natural events were responsible for approximately 18 % of debris. The remaining 33 % of shoreline debris was identified as general source debris because it could come from either land- or ocean-based sources. Plastic bags and bottles made up the majority of the general source debris.

In region 3 of the NMDMP (Morehead City, North Car-olina to Port Everglades, Florida) the dominant land-based items collected included straws, balloons and metal beverage cans. Dominant general-source debris items were plastic beverage bottles and small plastic bags. The leading debris items associated with ocean-based sources were light sticks, rope and fishing line.

How does the marine debris in North Inlet compare to the findings of the NMDMP? V o l u n t e e r s and reserve staff complet-ed sweeps of the area along the Clambank causeway in March, on Hobcaw Beach in September, and the north end of North Island in October. Clothing and toys were the dominant land-based debris found. Plastic beverage bottles and caps, plastic bags and food wrappers comprised the majority of the general-source debris. Cigarettes, filters and lighters and shot-gun shells were also found in high numbers. The top ocean-based items were buoys and floats, fishing lures and light sticks, and fishing line.

The growing population in our coastal area has increased the potential for marine debris introduction. The 2008 Report of the Interagency Marine De-bris Coordinating Committee makes a number of recommendations for re-ducing and preventing marine debris. Among these recommendations are the need for education and outreach, incentive programs, coordinated re-moval efforts, research, and technol-ogy development.

Beach Sweeps at North Inlet Show Both Shoreline and Ocean Sources

It can be difficult to determine the source of debris if you are not sure what it is.

Ways you can prevent marine debris:

Reduce, reuse, recycle. Chose reusable items ; and use fewer disposable ones.

Keep streets, sidewalks, parking lots and storm ; drains free of trash – they empty into our oceans.

Stow all trash, fishing line, and nets on your boat ; for proper disposal on land.

Get involved in cleanups in your area. ;

Proportion of marine debris from the shore-line, ocean, and other sources found in North Inlet.

Lindsay Thomas helps with the Hobcaw Beach Sweep on a breezy day.

North INlet-WINyah Bay Nerr 5

Discovery Center ProgressGround Breaking to Wall BustingAugust 11: Ground breaking Sept. 15: Pouring the slab Sept. 21: Framing

Sept. 28: Roof trusses Oct. 7: Closing in

Oct. 20: Siding and roofing begins

Nov. 6: Demolition Nov. 10: Roof and windows

The ground breaking for the new and expanded Hobcaw Barony Discovery Center (HBDC) took place on August 11, 2008. The current HBDC building was kept fully operational until Novem-ber 1, after which the building interior was de-molished to make space for approximately 1,800 square feet of dedicated exhibit space (com-pared to the former 500 square feet). The newly constructed addition includes an audiovisual room, a classroom, reception area, gift shop and office space for Baruch Foundation and North In-let – Winyah Bay NERR education staff. The Belle W. Baruch Foundation has moved its temporary base for education programs over to one of the University of South Carolina cottages near the front entrance. All major outside construction activities are being timed around the nesting season of the endangered red-cockaded wood-pecker that runs April 15-July 31. It is anticipated that the building will be ready for occupation in Fall of 2009.

Nov. 7: MORE Demolition

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Notes

This year’s South Carolina Marine Educators Association (SCMEA) fall conference was held at Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort in Pawleys Island, SC, October 10-12th. “A Watershed Weekend” was this year’s meeting theme. Dr. Erik Smith, NI-WB NERR Research Coordinator, shared research findings from a collaborative research study on hypoxia events in local waters, and participated in a panel discussion during the conference.

Beth Thomas, NI-WB NERR Education Coordinator, and Karen Fuss, Coastal Waccamaw Stormwater Education Consortium Coordinator, gave a presentation titled ‘We All Live Downstream’ about storm water issues and hands-on solutions such as rain gardens and rain barrels. Wendy Allen, NIWB NERR Manager, and Lindsay Thom-as, NIWB NERR Education Specialist, also participated in the conference.

Reserve Staff Attend SC Marine Educators Association Fall Conference

The Education Vessel Discovery Makes a Stop in Georgetown

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources staff partnered with the NI-WB NERR to conduct school programs on the Education Vessel (E/V) Discovery this Fall. The program utilized a 45’ catamaran for a variety of hands on educational activities to teach students and teachers about South Carolina’s marine ecosystem and resources.

While aboard the E/V Discovery, participants had the opportunity to learn about salt marsh ecology, the value of estuarine and salt marsh ecosystems, and the biology of animals and plants inhabiting the es-tuary. SCDNR staff also discussed water quality collection methods, and the importance of clean water. Reserve staff provided land-based water quality activities in conjunction with the boat trips.

The Coastal Carolina Discovery Marine Education Program is funded by the South Carolina Saltwater Recreational Fishing License Program. For more information please visit www.dnr.sc.gov/ccd/index.html

Weihong Wang, one of two current NI-WB NERR Graduate Research Fellows, recently defended her dissertation, “Investigations of Belowground Carbon Dynamics in East Coast Salt Marshes, USA.” The goal of her study was to investigate salt marsh belowground carbon dynamics, specifically to distinguish root system respiration from soil organic matter decomposition. Her research examined marsh dieback sites and healthy marsh sites located in North Inlet. Results from her study indicate that belowground production of marsh plants is the dominant organic matter source in salt marsh soils. This study will help to better quantify salt marsh carbon budget, and help researchers to better understand the influence of climate change and sea-level rise on soil respiration and carbon sequestration in salt marsh ecosystems.

NI-WB NERR Graduate Research Fellowship News

North INlet-WINyah Bay Nerr 7

Bioswales-continued from page 1

Furthermore, the willingness of engineers and design-ers, like Horton and Deeb, to take on a project of such magnitude inspires confidence in their peers who at-tended the workshops to start applying this knowledge elsewhere.

For more information about Oak Terrace Preserve, please visit oakterracepreservesc.com. Additional partners for this event were SC Sea Grant Consortium, SC DHEC, and the Ashley-Cooper Stormwater Educa-tion Consortium.

Bioswale Installation at Oak Terrace Preserve

A perforated pipe sur-rounded by porous media was installed and covered with soil and grass to tem-porarily stabilize the site. The completed bioswale (see picture on page 1) was filled in with top soil and planted with vegetation that removes pollutants as storm water filters through into the perforated pipe. The water then flows into a larger drain under the street that leads into a pocket park. The park pro-vides storage in the case of heavy rain and bioswale overflow, and a useable green space for residents. Drains are installed in the pocket parks, which direct any excess water being held in the park underneath another street and into a large pond. This holding pond is the final step in the stormwater treatment. From here, the filtered and cleaned water drains into a local creek.

NI-WB Website Under ConstructionThe Hobcaw Barony Discovery Center isn’t the only exciting construction project at the NI-WB NERR. The reserve has contracted with a web designer to develop a new look and structure for our web-site. The new site will provide easy access to information about our edu-cation, research, stewardship and coastal training pro-grams. We are also working to develop a virtual tour of the reserve and to provide real time weather and water data from our Oyster Landing monitoring site. Look for an announcement of the ‘grand opening’ of the new web site this spring.

Photographs, Poems, Pencils, and Pluff Mud Teacher Workshop offered at Hobcaw Barony

Notes

Through the cooperative effort of Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence Southeast (COSEE-SE), SC Sea Grant, North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR, and the SEWEE Association, two sessions of an educator work-shop designed to capture the science of the salt marsh through photography, literature and the visual arts will be held at the Kimbel Conference Center on Hobcaw Barony March 13th-15th, 2009. Kevin Kurtz, author of A Day in the Salt Marsh, nature photographer, Karen Beshears, and visual arts teacher, Marie Nichols, will lead the workshops. Formal and informal educators from North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia will have the opportunity to interact with salt marsh ecol-ogy science experts in the field and classroom, address science topics such as ecosystems, behavior, adapta-tions, and food webs, work alongside artists to capture this ecosystem’s unique components, create their own book or journal to use in the classroom, and obtain knowledge and skills in science and art to use with their students. To learn more, please contact Elizabeth Vernon at elizabeth.vernon@scseagrant.org or (843) 953-2078.

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North Inlet - Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research ReserveP.O. Box 1630

Georgetown, South Carolina29442

Phone: 843-546-6219Fax: 843-546-1632

www.northinlet.sc.edu

Created in 1972, the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) is dedicated to conservation, research, education, and stewardship activities in America’s estuaries—coastal areas where the rivers meet the sea. The North Inlet-Winyah Bay Reserve was established in 1992 and is one of 27 reserve sites around the coastal United States. Each reserve receives funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and matched resources from the host state agency. The North Inlet-Winyah Bay Re-serve is hosted by the University of South Carolina, Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences. We are headquartered at the internationally recognized Baruch Marine Field Laboratory in Georgetown, South Carolina.

Parting Shot

In October we bid farewell to Sarah Foose Thornton who has served as a very competent, committed, and cheery research assistant for over eight years. Sarah worked for the reserve on a part-time basis out of love for the marsh and mud (and maybe the good company), not for the hourly earnings that probably did not even cover the costs of her long commute in recent years. We wish Sarah all the best and hope she will come back from time to time to play in the pluff mud of North Inlet.

Fond Farewell

Estuaries IllustratedNorth Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve NewsletterEditor: Jennifer SpicerContributors: Lindsay Thomas, Beth Thomas, Nicole Saladin, Wendy Allen

For questions or comments about this publication, or to subscribe to our mailing list, please contact Jen Spicer at jen@belle.baruch sc.edu, 843-546-6219 ext. 251.