ANNAPOLIS, MD – The City of Annapolis and Chesapeake Bay Trust cut the ribbon on Monday for the new watershed restoration project in the Cedar Ridge neighborhood of Annapolis. The project, the “Green Alley” was a collaboration between the City, CBT, Anne Arundel County, and residents of the Cedar Ridge neighborhood.
The project involved reducing storm water by creating bioswales, rain gardens and conservation landscaping. The $55,476 funding allocation for the project was made possible through grant funding from the City of Annapolis. Volunteers worked hundreds of hours to complete the project by planting perennials, grasses, and groundcover in the Green Alley.
“The goal is to make our waterways accessible, swimmable and fishable,” said Mayor Gavin Buckley. “One of the ways we get to there is through cooperative efforts like this, where the community comes together to make the improvements.”
Watershed restoration projects seek to limit storm water runoff to reduce water pollution. Projects that qualify for grant funding must show a measurable reduction in runoff. The affected bodies of water in the Green Alley include Back Creek and the Chesapeake Bay.
“The Cedar Ridge community should be commended for its incredible dedication to installing practices that beautify their grounds and prevent polluted stormwater from entering our waterways,” said Jana Davis, president of the Chesapeake Bay Trust, who manages funds from the City of Annapolis for community-based environmental projects. “We hope this community will be a model for many others who want to take on similar projects.”
“Through this grant program, we are able to better manage runoff and soil erosion by adding storm water management facilities to a 48-year-old residential community,” said Janis Markusic, one of the project coordinators of the Cedar Ridge Homes Association. “Working with our design/construction team from McHale Landscape Design, we were able to use underground structure controls to create aesthetically pleasing conservation landscaping and rain gardens. We hope the Cedar Ridge Green Alley project can be an example to other communities.”
For more information on how your community can qualify for watershed restoration grant funding, contact the City of Annapolis Stormwater Program Manager, Betsey McKeown, at efmckeown@annapolis.gov or CBT Restoration Program Manager, Sarah Koser, at SKoser@cbtrust.org.
