The Georgia Department of Transportation (GADOT) impacted a forested swamp with the expansion of Highway 17 in coastal Georgia. As a requirement of the Clean Water Act, an alternative wetland must be restored or created to mitigate for the losses of the original wetland. The GADOT is providing funding to the Skidaway Institute to study mitigation efforts to restore an impounded marsh on the Ogeechee River that was formerly used for rice cultivation. The purpose of my study is to track the progress and success of this restoration effort. I initially gathered baseline information on vegetation types, sediment patterns, water quality and circulation to quantify properties that change on short time scales and to better determine early changes in the restoration. The establishment of appropriate vegetation and the formation of a functional drainage system are changes that occur rapidly in marsh restoration studies and are crucial components to the restoration of other marsh functions. The ultimate goal of the study is to restore a formerly impounded marsh to a fully functioning wetland. Vegetation and drainage development assessments, long timeseries water quality measurements, sedimentological examinations and invertebrate studies are being used in an ongoing evaluation of marsh function within a GIS framework. |
