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Floating Wetlands May Be Good Alternatives
The Elizabeth River Project, in partnership with the Virginia Zoo and Chesapeake Bay Foundation, assembled and launched the area’s first floating wetland islands (sometimes called biohavens or floating treatment wetlands) at the duck pond of the Virginia Zoo.
Helping Mother Nature
Floating Wetland Islands are an alternative to traditional wetlands that employ rooted, emergent plants growing through a floating mat on the surface of the water rather than rooted in the bottom sediments. Floating treatment wetlands are perfect to filter out pollutants as they are not affected by fluctuations in water levels that may submerse and stress bottom-rooted plants. Floating wetlands act like a constructed wetland but with none of the land requirements - they represent a concentrated wetland effect. With the huge surface area presented by the individual matrix fibers, every 250 square foot island equates to 1 acre of traditional wetland surface.
Build it and they will come
Volunteers from
Granby High School
helped assemble and plant the two 368 square-foot islands on Saturday, March 19. The second island was launched on Wednesday, March 23 and within 24 hours, a Mallard Duck had built a nest and laid an egg on the new island habitat.
Funds for the floating islands were made possible by Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed grant from the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
and
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
.
A 250-sq. foot constructed floating wetland equates to 1 acre of traditional wetland surface.
