The degraded conditions of Cattail Creek signaled a need for restoration.  Increased development upstream of Cattail Creek led to heightened bank erosion in the creek and sediment loading in the cove. The hardened shoreline consisted of an aging bulkhead and a boat ramp. A failing fish ladder did not provide adequate fish passage to the upstream portion of the creek on the other side of Asbury Road. Cattail Creek is important spawning ground for Yellow Perch, a significant fishery in Maryland.

​

The Cattail Creek Stream Restoration and Living Shoreline Project included a Regenerative Stream Channel (RSC) stream restoration to improve water quality, provide floodplain connectivity, raise the local groundwater table, and provide wildlife habitat. At the tidal interface the existing bulkhead was replaced with a living shoreline to provide wave energy dissipation and tidal marsh habitat for wildlife. This stream restoration project enhanced the existing stream and wetlands by widening and reconfiguring the stream channel and connecting it to the existing floodplain elevation. This removed the need for a fish ladder and provided improved habitat and passage for yellow perch and other fish.  

 

The project stabilized and enhanced approximately 650 feet of stream channel, replaced 145 linear feet of bulkhead with living shoreline, and provided 0.18 acre-feet of water storage on site in surface bio-retention pools and subsurface sand filter bed area. It was planted with native trees, shrubs, submerged aquatic species, and tidal marsh grasses, which provide additional stabilization and ecological uplift.