OCTOBER 2019 NEWSLETTER The latest news and updates from DIPP |
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Dear Deal Island Peninsula Partners, Happy Halloween! 🎃 We have quite a few updates to share with you this month. Please see below for the latest on the three on-going projects, as well as DIPP's strategic planning efforts. For those who are interested, we will be hosting two discussions in December (on the 12th and 17th) about the final ditch drainage assessment report and developing DIPP's strategic plan. See below for the details. Additional information on these discussions will be shared soon. In addition to project updates, you'll find a nice article from CBNERR-MD about their work in Monie Bay to understand land subsidence patterns that contribute to regional tidal inundation issues. There are also links to relevant news and resources, including information about a new leadership training program and the newly released Maryland Nuisance Flood Plan. As always, please get in touch with any questions or concerns. Thanks for being a part of this partnership! Sincerely,
Liz Van Dolah DIPP Coordinator |
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Updates on Ongoing DIPP Projects |
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The Deal Island Shoreline Project DNR and the County are still awaiting permit approvals. DNR staff involved in the project planning were informed that MDE staff are planning to request issuance of a wetland license and that the Army Corps of Engineers is also almost done with their process. DNR hopes to obtain approvals before November 15. |
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Ditch Drainage Assessment Somerset County is expecting a draft of the ditch drainage assessment report from the contracted engineer firm, AMT, by the end of this month. This assessment examined the network of drainage ditches in the Oriole and Dames Quarter area, two locations identified as especially prone to ditch flooding during the ICRA process. We will host a community conversation on the evening of December 17th to discuss the findings of this report and some potential next steps. More details coming soon. Please save the date! |
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Hodson White Ditch Improvements The County is waiting to receive property-owner easements for the Hodson White Rd. ditch improvement work. They will be cleaning sections of ditch along Deal Island Rd. which are preventing drainage of an off-road ditch near Hodson White Rd. that routinely floods the roadway. Letters of request and easement forms were sent on October 3rd to four property owners who own portions of the ditch that need to be cleaned. Once these forms are returned, the County will be able to commence the work. |
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DIPP Strategic Planning Discussions |
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On October 17th, members of DIPP’s Coordination Team met to discuss DIPP’s mission, challenges, needs, and future direction. The discussion was an initial first step towards developing a strategic planning framework to guide DIPP's work over the next five years. |
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Topics covered included challenges with sustaining DIPP and with balancing different roles, expectations, and capacities of DIPP’s local/regional partners. We brainstormed ideas for leveraging more resources from within DIPP’s partnership to more effectively meet DIPP’s mission of supporting community and environmental resilience to ongoing and future changes. We also discussed potential topics on which to focus DIPP’s work to meet local concerns, university interests, as well as County and State government needs. A critical next step will be to further define DIPP’s future scope of work with local partners to ensure that DIPP remains relevant to the Deal Island Peninsula communities. We will be organizing a discussion on December 12th in Dames Quarter. We welcome all interested participants. Please contact Liz for the meeting details. |
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Notes from the Marsh: Update from Monie Bay |
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Measuring Small Changes with Big Impacts: Using GPS at the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve-Maryland (CBNERR-MD) By Kyle Derby, Research Coordinator |
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It may be hard to fathom, but the Earth is always moving underneath our feet. These movements can be caused by things we hear about on the news, like earthquakes, but they also can have other causes. For example, withdrawing large amounts of groundwater can cause land to subside, or sink. Another process is called post-glacial rebound. This occurs because during the last ice age the incredible weight of the large mass of ice that covered parts of North America pressed and tilted the Earth’s crust down. As areas to our north were pressed down, the land around the edges of this ice sheet bulged and were lifted because of the depressions under the sheet. As the ice retreated, these depressions slowly began to rebound, and the areas that were uplifted began to slowly settle, which they continue to do today. Since the Chesapeake Bay region is located just south of the former edge of these ice sheets, our amount of settling is significant, but also very subtle and hard to detect. We experience these subtle shifts, particularly on the Delmarva peninsula. Since this area is relatively flat, even small changes (less than an inch!) can have wide impacts. This can be easily seen in water levels, which in addition to sea level rise from polar melting, can be accentuated by the land itself sinking. |
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Photo Caption: A GPS unit occupying an elevation benchmark at Monie Bay. Data are collected by the small grey receiver at the top of a fixed-height tripod. Note the sandbags placed at the base of the tripod to ensure stability, and the deep-cycle battery located in the white bucket, which will power the receiver for the entire GPS occupation. In order to identify areas which may be subsiding more rapidly than others, CBNERR-MD is taking part in a larger project across Maryland, Delaware and Virginia. Teams from the US Geological Survey, National Geodetic Survey, our sister reserves in Delaware and Virginia, |
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and many others, are all simultaneously measuring elevations across the region using high-precision GPS equipment. Members all “occupied” elevation benchmarks at the same time, for multiple days. These long-term occupations will give highly accurate elevation readings of these benchmarks across the region, with the least amount of possible error. Team members will repeat these measurements each year for five years. Over this period, we will observe the small changes in the elevations of our benchmarks, which should be attributed to the movement of the entire landscape. Then, we can identify which areas are sinking faster than others, which can help local stakeholders plan for and identify ways to cope with this change. At CBNERR-MD, occupations were conducted at our Jug Bay component in Lothian, MD, and at our Monie Bay component in Somerset County, MD. One unit was set up at Jug Bay on a long-established marsh benchmark, while two units were set on marks installed by CBNERR-MD staff earlier in 2019 at Monie Bay. These elevations will not only inform |
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the long-term project, but will also allow for CBNERR-MD staff to use these marks as local elevation check points for other research in the Reserve. Accurate elevations for monitoring purposes are crucial to everything from tidal inundation to vegetation monitoring. CBNERR-MD is excited to be a part of this long term study, and we hope to know more about our landscape in the coming years. Photo Caption: Local nuisance flooding is one of the key reasons to be looking at deep subsidence. Sometimes, it’s even a nuisance to our scientists!! (photo: Phillipe Hensel, National Geodetic Survey/NOAA) |
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October Flooding Event Impacts on the Deal Island Peninsula |
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Video above: Harrison Point Rd. in Chance. Below photos from left to right: Deal Island Road in St. Stephens and Deal Island Harbor boat ramp next to Island Seafoods. Addition images are available through the link above. |
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Relevant News for Our DIPP Partners |
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Maryland Nuisance Flooding Plan Released This month, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and Department of Planning released the Nuisance Flood Plan, which requires jurisdictions impacted by nuisance flooding to develop strategies to address high-tide flooding impacts and risks. Somerset County is among the jurisdictions that will be developing a Nuisance Flood Plan over the next year. Learn more about the Nuisance Flood Plan here. Deal Island Peninsula featured in the New York Times Deal Island Peninsula was highlighted in a recent New York Times article about ghost forests, saltwater intrusion, and marsh migration. Also featured in this article is Smithville in Dorchester County, home to New Revived United Methodist Church, members of which participated in DIPP's recent Engaging Faith Communities for Coastal Resilience Project. Demolition of the Severn Mister House on Deal Island Deal Island’s oldest structure, the Severn Mister House, was demolished earlier this month due to its deteriorating conditions. The property was located on Maryland DNR property adjacent to Deal Island Rd. on Deal Island. Read about it here. The Benny Bozman Fire Museum is Now Open! The Deal Island Fire Department's new museum was featured on the WBOC-TV 16 news. Be sure to stop by and check out their collection of fire department memorabilia. |
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Photo Caption: Mr. Benny Bozman shows off some of the museum's displays to Charlie Paparella from WBOC-TV 16 News. |
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New Resource: Local Leadership Training Program The Union of Concerned Scientists, a partner in DIPP’s Engaging Faith Communities for Coastal Resilience, has shared a new opportunity they are offering for local leadership training that could be used to tackle rural coastal community resilience needs. "This one-year program will train you to sharpen your advocacy skills, build on your power, and support other advocates so you can make even more meaningful differences locally. We invite you to apply for our latest leadership development initiative, team-base organizing. More than ever, we need people like you working to effect positive change in your communities. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Winter applications will open January 8-February 21. Please reach out to Hannah Silverfine with any questions about the initiative or the application process." |
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Upcoming Local Event: Deal Island Community Thanksgiving Dinner 5th Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner ON Thanksgiving Day! FREE to all community members! All are welcome! Sponsored by Skipjack Run and fully supported by community volunteers and donations. A truly unique opportunity for fellowship and giving. |
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If you prefer to spend Thanksgiving within your own home, please consider baking an extra pie, an extra casserole or even an extra turkey! Pick up of any food items or non-perishables can be arranged.
Dinner will be first come, first served. Details available here. |
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