Havre de Grace and Harford County officials welcomed the official opening of the Water Street living shoreline project Thursday morning, finishing an almost five-year construction process.
Phase 3 of the project wrapped up in June when 4,000 native plants, including black and brown-eyed Susans and other plants within the aster family, were placed. On the site, there are roughly 24,000 native shrubs, plants and trees.
“It allows the people of the city of Havre de Grace to come down and enjoy being in [the city],” said Naomi Wright, manager of construction services for the city.
Before Phase 3, the lot was vacant and had a bulkhead that ran across the entire lake, Wright said. The bulkhead was removed and replaced with several layers of stone that help filter stormwater.
When the Conowingo Dam, which is close to the project, opens, it sends more water toward the Chesapeake Bay and increases water levels. The 17-foot-deep water at the living shoreline works to dissipate some of that wave energy and help to improve the quality of water that runs back into the Susquehanna River, which then goes into the Chesapeake Bay.
According to Kate Vogel, senior manager of coastal resilience in the National Wildlife Federation’s mid-Atlantic regional office, it was necessary to design and build something that not only accounted for the daily low and high tides but also what happens when the dam gates open. Large logs were positioned along the front of the shoreline to reduce erosion.
“The tree logs are acting as an additional stabilization, so that as the waves come in … they’re hitting the trees, which are natural infrastructure and absorbing some of that wave impact before it hits the native vegetation,” Vogel said.
Phases 1 and 2 each took one year to complete, with the first one beginning in 2020. Those phases include the addition of a boat ramp. Residents can drive their vehicles down the ramp to load and unload boats and kayaks. They can also drag boats down the cobble pathway.
Havre de Grace Mayor Bill Martin said the living shoreline was designed with purpose as each rock, stone and plant was handcrafted for a specific reason. He said this “wasn’t just a feel-good project, it was necessary one.”
“Projects like this, we hope, just don’t benefit the citizens of today but future generations,” he said.
Over time, the shoreline will mature and fill in. To maintain it, Martin added, the city hired an employee to keep up with maintenance, which includes removing trash, trimming and pruning the plants.
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