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Regenerative Stream Channel Design and Bioretention Retrofit Restores
Springhouse Run
\A/-3tprhnr|v Imnrnvpd The sPringhouse Run project is part of an integrated watershed-
based restoration approach. Before restoration, Springhouse Run
was a highly linear, channelized stream that experienced significant stream bed and bank erosion.
The stream was added to the 2008 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters
for multiple pollutants. The urbanized character of the upper section of the watershed creates
conditions for flashy and intense stream channel flows. Implementing education and outreach about
the harmful effects of stormwater pollution, returning Springhouse Run to its natural state as a self-
sustaining stream, and replacing five stormwater pipes and outfalls with bioretention facilities led to
improved Index of Biological Integrity metrics and stream water temperature.
Problem
Located in northeast Washington, DC, Springhouse
Run is a tributary of Hiekey Run, which feeds into the
Anacostia River and the Chesapeake Bay. The drainage
area of the watershed is approximately 152 acres and
is composed of two distinct parts: an upper portion
that is piped and a lower portion that flows at the
surface, with New York Avenue NE serving as the
dividing line between the two sections. Springhouse
Run's headwaters originate in a pipe at an unidentified
location. The stream daylights in the U.S. National
Arboretum, just south of New York Avenue NE, and
flows to the southwest approximately 1,800 feet
where it joins Hickey Run (Figure 1). The heavily urban-
ized character of the upper section of the Springhouse
Run watershed and its impervious nature produce
conditions for flashy and intense stream channel flows.
Story Highlights
The Springhouse Run stream restoration project is
part of an Integrated watershed-based restoration
approach. For nearly a decade, District Department of
Energy and Environment (DOEE) conducted outreach
and education to residents and businesses within
the Hickey Run and Springhouse Run watersheds
about the harmful effects of stormwater pollution on
receiving waterbodies: tributaries of the Anacostia
River, the river itself and the Chesapeake Bay. DOEE's
many RiverSmart programs (e.g., RiverSmart Homes,
RiverSmart Communities, RiverSmart Schools) provide
3(iii riyiiuust;
Springhouse Run
~ Springhouse Run Watershed
I I National Arboretum Boundary
Limno

NATIONAL ARBORETUM
	
Figure 1. Springhouse Run is in Washington, DC.
resources to residents, students and educators about
stormwater's effects on local waterways. The programs
also provide incentives to install best management
practices (BMPs) to reduce the volume of stormwater
runoff entering local waterways. Other strategies
include the GreenWrench Technical Assistance

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Program, which provides free pollution prevention
guidance for mechanics and auto body shops.
Stream restoration activities, which began in 2016,
included returning Springhouse Run to its natural
state as a self-sustaining stream by using regenera-
tive stream channel and iegacy sediment removai
techniques aiong 3,600 feet of stream (Figure 2). The
regenerative stream channel approach incorporates
natural stream channel design techniques and materi-
als. This innovative restoration approach results in a
system of physical features, chemicai processes and
biological mechanisms that enhance the ecological and
aesthetic value of the stream. Features of regenerative
stream channels include a series of riffles and pools,
sand and wood chip fill, rock weirs and iarge woody
debris (e.g., reusing trees felled during construction).
Goals include increasing infiltration and subsurface
water flow, reconnecting the stream with the flood-
plain, managing stormwater, reducing sedimentation
and nutrient transport downstream, and providing
habitat diversity. The project also removed 1,000
truckloads of legacy (existing) fill and sediment from
the stream channel to recreate the floodplain valley.
The second BMP included retrofitting the U.S.
Arboretum's visitor parking lot with five bioreten-
tion facilities (6.17 acres total). Prior to the retrofit,
stormwater from the parking lot entered catch basins
and discharged directly to Hickey Run,
Results
DOEE awarded a grant to the Metropolitan
Washington Council of Governments to perform pre-
and post-restoration monitoring. Monitoring includes
three primary components: (1) physical, geomorphic
and baseflow conditions; (2) baseflow water quality
conditions; and (3) a biological community assess-
ment. The biological data assessment showed that the
benthic macroinvertebrate index of biological integrity
(IBI) improved from a score of 1.6 (very poor) in 2014
to a range of 2.1-3.0 (poor-fair) in 2018 after restora-
tion. Both the number of individuals collected and
the total number of taxa in the stream increased after
restoration (Table 1). In addition, two new species of
fish were collected in 2018 sampling (after restora-
tion) that had not been observed in the 2014-2015
monitoring years. The Fisheries and Wildlife Division
of DOEE conducted monitoring surveys of the
Figure 2. Springhouse Run, before and after project.
Table 1. Springhouse Run macroinvertebrate IBI data.

Individuals
Number of
MBSSIBI
MBSSIBI
Sample date
collected
taxa
score
ranking
4/28/2014
28
7
1.6
Very poor
4/11/2018
163
30
3.0
Fair
8/14/2018
158
17
2.1
Poor
Springhouse Run project area and found 68 species of
birds in 2015-2016 (before restoration) and 72 species
in 2017-2018 (after restoration).
Another monitoring project, using a series of strategi-
cally placed data loggers, indicated that the system of
subsurface flow patterns created by a coarse sand lens
and perforated pipes decreased water temperature.
As the stream matrix matures through an increased
area of root matting and vegetative cover, the tem-
perature during summer will continue to improve.
Partners and Funding
Partners included the designer, LimnoTech; the
construction contractor, Underwood and Associates;
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's)
nonpoint source pollution program, the U.S. National
Arboretum; Friends of the National Arboretum and
DOEE. The project cost, including design and construc-
tion, totaled $1.8 million. Funding sources included
local funding, EPA Chesapeake Bay Implementation
grant and EPA's CWA section 319 nonpoint source
pollution grant ($614,000).
^£D	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
0** Office of Water
\ Washington, DC
I
- -	EPA 841-F-21-001F
April 2021
For additional information contact:
Matt Weber
District Department of Energy and Environment
202-535-1144 • mattew.vveber2@dc.gov

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