Submerged gravel wetland is new Center for the Inland Bays project
The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays will begin constructing a submerged gravel wetland on former agricultural land owned by Sussex County, located at the intersection of Old Park Avenue and Springfield Lane near Georgetown. This nature-based solution is a highly engineered wetland system that stores water and allows infiltration and denitrification before the water leaves the system, thereby reducing nutrient and sediment pollution in nearby waterways.
The landscape surrounding Delaware’s three Inland Bays – Rehoboth Bay, Indian River Bay and Little Assawoman Bay – has shifted rapidly from farms and forests to developed land. More streets, sidewalks, driveways and roofs reduce the sponginess of the open spaces they replace, accelerating the flow of water, sediments and pollution into area streams, rivers and bays.
Without proper stormwater management, dense development can contribute up to four times more nitrogen than forested land. As a result, excess nutrients are causing murky waters and degraded habitat for aquatic life throughout the Inland Bays.
Submerged gravel wetlands provide a low-impact, effective solution to this challenge. Designed to mimic natural wetlands, SGWs use gravel and naturally occurring microbes to filter pollutants from stormwater before it reaches local waterways. By combining physical filtration with biological processes, these systems effectively remove nutrients, sediment and other contaminations, helping to restore water quality and protect surrounding ecosystems.
“Sussex County has a long and proud track record working with the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, and it is projects like this that are a continuation of that partnership to improve the environment and well-being of those living here and visiting Sussex County,” said Todd F. Lawson, county administrator. “By making this small investment of time and effort today, it means reduced runoff, cleaner waterways and a healthier environment for tomorrow.”
This $485,000 project is supported by a $225,000 Congressionally Directed Spending appropriation through the Environmental Protection Agency, thanks to U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., with additional funding through a Clean Water Act Section 319 grant, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds, and a Community Water Quality Improvement Grant from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. Completion of this project is targeted for April 30, 2027.
The Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, established in 1994, is a nonprofit organization and one of 28 National Estuary Programs dedicated to preserving, protecting and restoring Delaware’s Inland Bays and their watershed. For more information, go to inlandbays.org or call 302-226-8105.
