Increasing vegetation, improving water: Compost use in urban restored wetlands

Researchers from Duke University Wetland Center (DUWC) are working with the county's Stormwater Services to develop a set of experimental soil organic matter amendments to test if adding compost would increase growth of planted vegetation and improve water quality in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, called the Hidden Valley Ecological Garden. This project includes 13 acres of "reclaimed" floodplain and 3,500 feet of stream. Project goals include: reducing flood reducing peak flows and flow duration; reconnecting the stream to the bank full floodplain; improving water quality; increasing ground water recharge; restoring terrestrial and aquatic habitat; stablizing the embankment; eliminating fecal coliform; and decreasing stream temperature. Ambient water quality data show limited reduction of nutrients. Preliminary soils data show that there is a high degree of variability among sites in measured parameters, including soil organic matter.

Duke Scholars

Author Curtis J. Richardson Environmental Sciences and Policy