The District’s Wetlands Are Urban Oases

Image via Greater Greater Washington

From Greater Greater Washington:

Last fall, the DC region experienced a record-setting drought, following our hottest summer on record so far. As my colleague and I hiked through the wooded area behind the Fort Lincoln neighborhood in late October, we expected to see more of the dried-up wetlands and low-flow streams we had observed all summer. Instead, we came across a hillside seep actively discharging freshwater and collecting into a small stream channel. That stream eventually disappeared into a pipe in the ground that travels underground and feeds into the Anacostia River.

Groundwater-seepage wetlands are gamechangers in drought conditions. Where surface water from rainfall is scarce, water from these underground systems naturally comes to the surface to replenish the stream water level. This discharge process is also known as stream base flow, or dry-weather flow, and plays an important role in maintaining stream habitat for diverse wildlife. In contrast to the surrounding upland, this wetland area was thriving, a vivid reminder of the power of groundwater in sustaining ecosystems, even in the face of prolonged heat and drought.