SMC is currently building approximately 1,400 LF of step pool stormwater conveyance at the Audubon Naturalist Society’s Woodend Sanctuary, located in Chevy Chase, MD. Construction began in the Fall of 2020 and is slated to be completed in early summer of 2021. The project will reduce stormwater discharges to Rock Creek, a major tributary of the Potomac River, from a highly impervious watershed.  The current channel is incised by over 8 feet in areas and is actively eroding, putting the Society’s and its neighbors property in jeopardy.  

Design plans call for the installation of a step pool conveyance system to facilitate the flow of stormwater on the Woodend Sanctuary property and reduce channel erosion currently occurring during storm events. Additional ESD practices such as micro-bioretention facilities, bioswales, and pervious pavers will be constructed to treat additional impervious surfaces on the Sanctuary property. Additional project features include the retrofit and repair of an existing trail along the channel that has been damaged to high flows, installation of pedestrian bridges, boardwalks, and other trail infrastructure.