BLACK ROCK POND

Black Rock Run Stream Restoration Project

Located near the intersection of Black Rock Road, and MD Route 66, here in Washington County, is Black Rock Pond. This pond lies at the northern edge of the Beaver Creek Country Club. It is fed by Black Rock Run. The stream is a tributary of the Beaver Creek, which has been designated as a Class III trout stream. Originally, this pond was constructed to supply irrigation needs of the Beaver Creek Country Club golf course.

Now, it is a clustered quagmire of debris. Over the years, natural flood deposits have effectively filled in the pond. Its average water level is only 1 to 2 feet deep. The accumulated sediments, which are several feet thick, have made it harder for the golf course to efficiently draw upon this resource. The sun beating down on the shallow pond has created high water temperatures, adverse to aquatic life. Excess nutrients, in the silty, warm waters have resulted in low levels of dissolved oxygen. These things combined, have smothered out most of Black Rock Pond’s aquatic life, and about the only organisms these miry waters host now are a few introduced carp. But, their time too is limited, as they can barely survive in the water remaining. Like the dying trees collapsing amidst its banks, Black Rock Pond is a dying pond that’s ecosystem is collapsing from within.

Unfortunately, these problems aren’t just restricted to the pond. As Black Rock Run flows out of this impoundment, effects of its condition carry downstream. About 1000 feet away, all of these dilemmas discharge into the confluence with Beaver Creek. Impacts there can be felt by sensitive trout populations dependent upon well aerated, crisp, clear waters, free of sediment, that can irritate their gills, bury their prey or destroy their spawning grounds. Currently the outflows from the pond are having a negative thermal impact on Beaver Creek. As the shallow water is heated from the sun, the warmer water is discharged in to Beaver Creek Removing this pond and restoring the former stream channel will eliminate these impacts.

To remedy the situation the Washington County Soil Conservation District has partnered with Washington County Government, the Beaver Creek Country Club and the Beaver Creek Watershed Association in a two tiered project. Washington County has provided the funding for the project and the Watershed Association has been a project proponent from the beginning. The WCSCD is handling the project from concept through construction as the project manager.

Soil Conservation District Manager, Elmer Weibley, discusses solutions with Beaver Creek Country
Club Owner, Mike Steiner, at the golf course’s old pumping station on Black Rock Pond.

Since the primary purpose of damming Black Rock Run was to provide an irrigation reservoir for the golf course, the first tier consists of providing an improved alternative. To do this, a new well has been dug. A dried up pond, on the course, will also be repaired and when complete, will hold approximately 2 million gallons of water from overland runoff and the new well. This pond has been on the course for years. However, its inability to hold water has been an eyesore for the country club. When first built, a bentonite/clay treatment was used to seal the pond’s bottom, making it water tight, but over time, that has degraded. Tree roots growing into the pond embankment have also weakened the structure. Now, a liner will be installed and the trees removed. Embankment regrading, and constructing a new concrete and stone spillway will take place as well. Other irrigation alternatives were looked at, such as building storage tanks, but rehabilitating this pond proved optimal. And, unlike Black Rock Pond, this pond will not encounter the same problems. Since it is not connected to any stream, it will not receive the silt loads that choked up Black Rock Pond. Nor will it continually release anything into Beaver Creek’s trout habitat. This rewatering project not only meets the irrigation needs of the Beaver Creek Country Club, with the least environmental impact, it enhances aesthetics, and creates more of a challenge for golfers.

Once the new supply of irrigation water has been established, the project’s second tier will involve the restoration of Black Rock Run, by breaching the dam at Black Rock Pond. This will entail some engineering practices. Natural channel design techniques will be used to create a new stream channel, and as the stagnant waters of the pond retreat, many new wetlands will be formed. Reforestation techniques will also be implemented.

Completed in its entirety, the Beaver Creek Country Club will gain a quality source of water, and Black Rock Run will meander pristinely through its wetlands. Instead of being pushed away by the flows of Black Rock Run, trout populations may even migrate up into them. A permanent conservation easement has been established in the project area of just over 8 acres and will ensure that the stream restoration will remain protected for the future.

This wetland already exists just upstream from Black Rock Pond. It will be preserved, and new ones shall be created, during the restoration of Black Rock Run.

Washington County Soil Conservation staff Jay Duell, left, radios information, while Chris Burch helps steer the boat. Chris Herbert (back in the woods, in the middle) takes a survey shot.