Bay Journal: Wetlands return to Baltimore’s ‘forgotten waterfront’
(Timothy B. Wheeler)
The low, rock-covered berm juts like a crooked finger into the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River. It doesn’t look like much now. When finished, though, this and other marine construction work under way in South Baltimore will become 10 acres of wetlands in a city desperately short of natural shoreline.
Roughly three quarters of Baltimore’s waterfront is lined with bulkheads, piers and brick promenades, hardening that severely limits habitat for waterfowl, fish and crabs. The Hanover Street project is the opening salvo in an ambitious effort to restore more than 50 acres of wetlands along 11 miles of shoreline in the long-neglected southern part of the city.
“A year from now, you’ll see a … freshly planted wetland that extends far out into the water,” said Brad Rogers, executive director of the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership. In league with the city and another nonprofit group, Parks and People Foundation, Rogers’ group is spearheading the restoration effort.
The Middle Branch Resiliency Initiative, as it’s called, aims to protect disadvantaged communities in South Baltimore from increasingly frequent flooding and improve water quality there while also providing residents better access to the waterfront…