Demonstrating the efficacy of floodplain restorations identified as optimal for enhancing hydrology and improving water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed

Floodplain forests provide critical water quality and sediment/nutrient storage functions when hydrologically connected to adjacent streams and rivers. Floodplain reconnections provide ideal opportunities to store floodwaters, and enhance instream water quality and Habitat conditions. This project will demonstrate and quantify the efficacy of reconnected bottomland hardwood floodplains to improve water quality by trapping nutrients and sediment and also to enhance Habitat and flood water storage by restoring wetland hydrology. An innovative targeting tool, which predicts 1) where floodplain functions can be restored throughout a watershed; and 2) the mass of sediment and nutrients potentially captured or retained in candidate restoration sites, will be evaluated. This analysis of the ability of restored wetlands to provide targeted ecosystem functions will inform recommendations for targeting and designing floodplain reconnections, providing decision support tools for implementing the most cost-effective practices to improve flood protection, water quality, and wildlife Habitat benefits while maximizing crop production.