Floating Wetlands for Baltimore Harbor?

Baltimore's Inner Harbor is polluted with trash, and sometimes sewage. It is estimated a marsh at the Harborview section of the Baltimore waterfront could extract more than 70,000 pounds of nitrogen and nearly 8,300 pounds of phosphorus from the water each year. The wetlands would also offer shelter for waterfowl, fish and crabs. Some researchers, however, question whether floating wetlands would have much impact on the harbor's open tidal waters.
Photo: Healthy Harbor Baltimore

While the redevelopment of the Baltimore Inner Harbor is viewed as a successful urban-renewal project, the harbor waters are a different matter: trash, sewage leaks and all manner of stormwater pollutants make their way into the waters. The water literally stinks. When the temperatures get warm, there are algae blooms and fish kills.

Baltimore Mayor Rawlings-Blake has launched a Clean Water Baltimore initiative, which includes 20 Baltimore neighborhoods working to implement stormwater projects.

While new infrastructure and stormwater management are key to keeping pollutants and filth out of the harbor, Dan Naor, the COO of Baltimore Marine Centers, is proposing floating wetlands in the Harborview marina. There is space in the marina for floating wetlands because of empty marina slips, a holdover of the recession. Naor doesn’t see this as generating revenue, but for cleaning the water, which will then lead to filling the slips with boats.

Naor’s inspiration comes from the small floating wetlands placed in the harbor several years ago. If he gets approval for large wetlands, Naor said he could place as much as 10 acres of floating beds of rosemallow, sea lavender and salt grass throughout the five marinas he oversees.

The floating wetlands would also provide fish and wildlife habitat, as these shorelines used to when there were marshy areas.

Naor, however, isn’t holding his breath for approval. It has been a year since he approached government agencies about the Harborview wetland. He told the local media the city and government agencies are not generally against creating wetlands, but have concerns about the developer's proposal to build a walkway through the wetland with viewing platforms for educational purposes. The Maryland Department of the Environment wants to avoid or minimize any environmental impacts from building piers and platforms over the water. The National Marine Fisheries Service doesn't want piers and platforms to cover the water, either, saying environmental education about the floating wetlands can be done from the shore.

Naor believes the walkways are important because he wants people to experience the wetlands up close. He notes he already has approval to install 80 more boat slips (and their floating docks) that would cover nearly as much water as the proposed walkways.

The city also has a concern the floating wetlands might interfere with continued development of the Inner Harbor waterfront, which includes a long called for waterfront promenade. The city also worries the wetlands will collect litter. The city is asking for a maintenance plan and a promise to remove the wetlands if necessary when the shore is to be redeveloped.