The low, rock-covered berm that juts like a crooked finger into the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River doesn’t look like much now.

But when finished, this and other marine construction work under way in South Baltimore will become 10 acres of wetlands in a bayside city desperately short of natural shoreline.

Roughly three quarters of Baltimore’s waterfront is lined with bulkheads, piers and brick promenades that severely limits habitat for waterfowl, fish and crabs.

The Hanover Street project is the opening salvo in an ambitious effort to restore more than 50 acres of wetlands along 11 miles of shoreline in the long-neglected southern part of the city.

“A year from now, you’ll see a freshly planted wetland that extends far out into the water,” said Brad Rogers, executive director of the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership. In league with the city and another nonprofit group, Parks and People Foundation, Rogers’ group is spearheading the restoration effort.

The Middle Branch Resiliency Initiative, as it’s called, aims to protect disadvantaged communities in South Baltimore from increasingly frequent flooding and improve water quality there while also providing residents better access to the waterfront.

The initiative is part of a more expansive plan called Reimagine Middle Branch, a community-driven environmental justice movement to enhance the 19 neighborhoods in the area and reconnect them to the shoreline they’ve been cut off from for so long.

The vision, Rogers said, is to transform what’s been called Baltimore’s forgotten waterfront into its next great waterfront.
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This story was first published in the Bay Journal.
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For as long as anyone can remember, the Middle Branch’s shores have suffered from erosion, ship-channel dredging and filling of wetlands. People passing by on busy Hanover Street couldn’t even see the water because their view was blocked by a forest of phragmites.

“It used to be this wide open, deltaic environment with reeds and birds,” Rogers explained as he walked along the rocky berm under construction in the river.

Now, the invasive plants crowding the water’s edge have been removed. The berm, once finished, is to be topped with a layer of sand and organic material, into which wetlands vegetation will be planted.

The berm and its plants will help dampen wave-driven erosion from storms and nuisance flooding, protecting a vital traffic artery. Gaps left in the offshore structure will provide access to quieter near-shore water for fish and waterfowl.

For the time being, a floating yellow boom stretches out from the shoreline encompassing the area undergoing a nature makeover. But even before the first blade of marsh grass gets planted, the project is drawing a crowd — of birds and fish.

“You put in this boom and suddenly you see herons, cormorants and menhaden along the shore,” Rogers said.

Ousting Invasive Reeds

The Hanover Street wetland is expected to be completed later this year even as construction is planned to start on three other projects.

Next up is rehabilitation of a nine-acre patch of marsh between two streets that parallel the river.

“What we’re doing is restoring [its] connectivity to the Patapsco and restoring it as a more ecologically functional marsh as opposed to wet soils and phragmites,” Rogers said, referring to what’s also known as the common reed.

(Phragmites crowd out native species for water and nutrients, change the structure and function of wetlands and can reduce the diversity and abundance of invertebrates, fish and waterbirds. They can even be a fire danger for nearby residents.)

“Flooding-aggravated erosion threatens the Middle Branch Trail along the waterfront and is crumbling three concrete piers.”

After that, wetlands are to be added along the shore by Medstar Harbor Hospital, where flooding-aggravated erosion threatens the Middle Branch Trail along the waterfront and is crumbling three concrete piers standing forlornly in the water.

“We want to be able to expand and enhance that and make it a much more attractive place to spend time,” Rogers said.

More wetlands are planned along a tract known as Spring Gardens, the ironically named site of a BGE liquefied natural gas tank farm.

The final project would restore woods and marsh at Smith Cove, where two stormwater outfalls now dump runoff from the developed uplands.

A boardwalk and environmental education center are also planned there to connect with a new half-mile long waterfront park in Westport.

The waterfront park is to be built in conjunction with a new housing, office and retail complex, One Westport, the first phase of which began construction last year on a 43-acre swath of waterfront that’s sat barren for decades awaiting redevelopment.

A coal-burning power plant once occupied part of the site, and an unknown quantity of potentially toxic ash from the facility was buried at a spot now largely paved over, according to an inventory of coal ash disposal sites.

Funding under Trump: Uncertain

Unlike many previous urban redevelopment efforts, under Reimagine Middle Branch, the South Baltimore group has worked with leaders and residents of the area’s neighborhoods.

Together, they’ve planned the Westport park’s amenities, including a playground, outdoor gathering space, kayak launch and a memorial to the Black Sox Negro League baseball team.

“We’re not telling them how they want to develop, and we’re not telling them what kind of investment they’re looking for,” said Rogers. “We’re helping them choose.”

In conjunction with the physical upgrades, the partnership also has sponsored a series of activities and events, including boat cruises in warm weather and ice skating in winter, to encourage residents to come to and reclaim their waterfront.

With the new Trump administration trying to freeze or cancel many grants, it’s unclear how much more federal financial support can be counted on.

The partnership has raised about $67 million just for the shoreline restoration work, with much more to be lined up for the Westport park and other elements of Reimagine Middle Branch.

About $40 million of the funds provided so far came from federal agencies. With the Trump administration trying to freeze or cancel many grants and Congress looking to slash spending overall, it’s unclear how much more federal financial support can be counted on.

“It is a time of uncertainty,” Rogers acknowledged, “and everyone involved in environmental restoration or economic development . . . is going to have to figure out how to be flexible and adaptive.”

But the need is so great, he asserted, “the work can’t be stopped.”