Potomac River Restoration Project

Large Scale Restoration of Eelgrass
in the Potomac River

General Information

Go to maps page to view this and
other Potomac restoration maps.

Project Highlights
40.04 acres have been seeded to date!

November 2007 – 540,000 seeds were broadcast at St. George's Island and Cherryfield Point covering a total of 2 acres

June 2007 – Seed bags were deployed covering 0.34 acres at St. George's Island on the Potomac River

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Read more about this project:

Now available: Final Report Large-Scale Restoration of Eelgrass (Zostera marina) in the Patuxent and Potomac Rivers, Maryland

The MD - DNR has undertaken the following goals as part of this Potomac River Restoration Project:

To carry out large-scale restoration of eelgrass at several sites on the Potomac River, Maryland using the following approach:
- Identify sites for restoration using GIS based targeting models, test plantings, and intensive habitat assessments
- Conduct large-scale seeding of eelgrass at each site over a three year period (involves seed collection from a preexisting healthy eelgrass bed elsewhere)
- Monitor the success of large scale seeding activities and evaluate associated factors that may influence bay grass growth
To compare the effectiveness of large-scale eelgrass restoration using vegetative shoots and seeding methodologies
Produce a final, technical analysis documenting degree of revegetation of each site and evaluating effectiveness of the two methods compared during this project.