MORNING HAS BROKEN
This was a picture perfect day. A day made for good friends to plant those indigenous grasses that will not only bring beauty to our pond, but also hold the sand on the shoreline. I've been telling you about the colors of the pond at daybreak, now you can see for yourself because I was out of bed and ready for this day when the sun came up. Enjoy!

A PERFECT DAY FOR PLANTING
What did we plant? We planted 350 plugs of cordgrass, 25 plugs of marshmallow or hibiscus, and 25 plugs of sea goldenrod. If you look closely at the pictures you will see the jute matting that was installed the day before to hold the sand in place. A word about the Sea goldenrod: This is not the plant to which some people are allergic. The pollen from this plant is not airborne; insects and birds pollinate it.
Dr. Roman Jesien from the Maryland Coastal Bays Program Maryland Coastal Bays was there teaching planting 101. He had everyone so organized and confident in what they were doing that it only took about two hours to finish our work. Along with the Friends we had a newcomer, Mary Knight, a candidate for The Town of Ocean City Council. This lady really worked along with us until we were finished. Thank you, Mary.
We had boxes of donuts and coffee brought by some of the Friends. YUM! I know Harriet Pilert brought coffee and donuts, but I don't know where the rest came from and I do want to thank the person or persons that brought them. Thank you.
When we all get together like this it is hard to believe that it has been almost two and half years since we all first met, we didn't know each other at all back then. We call ourselves Friends of Walkers Pond, but I can tell you we truly are friends to each other.
When we finished planting everyone went to Vera's for a light lunch.
Keep in mind that the restoration is not finished! More sand will be coming in and the rest of the shoreline will be restored. When that is completed we will be planting again. If you weren't with us today we invite you to be with us for the next planting. You missed having a good time today!
Planters: Sis Borkowicz, Steve Borkowicz, Bobbi Ackers, Chip Ackers, Ann McDermott, John McDermott , Lavern Lechner, Marlene Meske, Kim Herbert, Charlie Herbert, Joann Dean, Mary Knight, Harriet Pilert, Brett Hunter, David Hunter, and Dr. Roman Jesien,
The jute matting was installed by Bernie Herzberg and Steve Borkowicz
Vera was behind the camera.

THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE

It's shining! The middle fountain's lights are shinning brightly and such a welcome sight it is! Jasper Johnson and Steve Borkowicz have all three fountains running to full capacity. The fountains are on timers so visit the pond before 10PM when they turn off. Jasper says it is better for the fountains if they run all year long instead of not being exercised the entire winter.
Jasper also says the pump that brings water into the pond from the Assawoman Bay is gone beyond repair and will have to be replaced. He is recommending a system that can be removed from the water during the winter when it is not in use.
We are waiting for jute matting to be delivered so we can install it on the Oyster Lane side of the pond. This matting will hold the sand in place so we can plant through it. As soon as that is done we will plant the emergent grasses. When their roots are established they will keep the sand in place.
The phragmites are beginning to tassel, which mean the seeds, airborne seeds, will be spreading all in our new shoreline. We have had to hire someone to cut those weeds in the areas that have been neglected. We thank all of you that have kept the weeds down. Please know that your work has been appreciated.
The rest of our plants order from Environmental Concerns will have to wait until spring.
Jay Charland from Coast Keepers has decided to leave this area and go to Oregon to be with his family. Jay was another person instrumental in the life of our pond. He taught me something very important: "You can't fix something if you don't know what it is." He started us on our quest for answers to exactly what kind of pond we were trying to restore. I know he has left a lasting legacy here….all we have to do is apply all the knowledge he has left with us.
Frank Guillen, an early riser, sent the sunrise photos. Just beautiful!

RUNOFF VS. THE WALKERS POND PROJECT

It has been several days since that hard rain nevertheless; we are still getting runoff from the park. This isn't good runoff that has been filtered through the ground. FILTERED. That is the key word. The water the pond is getting is full of nutrients from the weed & feed, plus the dropping from the geese, ducks and dogs. This is upsetting that delicate balance of salinity we are striving for in the pond. The park water is running right off the surface. Sometimes it runs over the asphalt and many times it is too lazy to do that so it goes under the asphalt. In many places there is nothing under the asphalt to give it support therefore it caves in.
Is there an answer to this dilemma? Yes! The following is a suggestion from an expert on these matters:
"The way I see it, the dune would allow water to pass through rather than over the land due to the nature of the sandy material, hopefully the dune would only support dune plants, and not invasive species or species we don't want to see. My vision, assuming it's feasible and I don't see why it wouldn't be, is a dune/ridge of sand and plants like you see when driving north along Rt 1 in Delaware above Fenwick Rt 54. A series of humps, ridges, can be low-level 1-2 feet above grade of walkway. Try to mimic what a barrier island looks like on bay side, dunes going to salt-marsh to water. So, going from walkway towards pond you'd establish a dune system at edge of walkway, tapering down to patens/high marsh w/ saltbushes/shrubs, and then to alterniflora and finally to water (the pond). The only difference is the orientation of the dunes around the pond (where the phragmites and other vegetation that is being maintained/by cutting, herbicide application etc. would be eliminated by dune and therefore a more natural way to effect the management objectives around the perimeter of the pond could be achieved), would not be just north and south as it is in the State parks, but would be east west as well. Dunes don't care, but if there was a loss of sand naturally as in the State park the orientation of the dune to the ocean shoreline and the prevailing winds would attent to rebuild the dune, although it may be farther west as the island tries to "walk over itself" as they are supposed to do naturally, but can't in OC due to development. So if dunes around the pond eroded some or shifted a bit due to wind, there may be a need for some maintenance but I gotta believe it would be minimal. Just seems like creating a dune may be the way to go, cause there ain't no lawns of grass in any dunes I've seen at "da beach"!"

A dune! We need a dune to, not only control the water, but think of the stability this would give the pond. This would also be very beautiful. Presently, the weeds have grown so high I'm sure people living on the park can't even see the pond.
The surface water is addressed, but what can we do about those drain pipes that run from the park into the pond? I can guarantee you that no permits were ever granted to allow that water to drain into the pond. The people living on the Bahia side of the pond were required to eliminate any runoff into the pond. No runoff! The only water that should be in the pond is water from the Assawoman Bay and rain that falls directly from the sky.

ENCOURAGING WORDS

"Don't worry about it accept that, like all things in nature, there may be damages but in time Mother Nature will heal the wounds. While there may be some shoreline changes due to higher water levels shoreline should eventually stabilize and without energy from wind driven waves the shoreline should be able to tolerate storm conditions in future. It's unfortunate the plants weren't in and establishing roots to hold soil, we would have seen the results in time, things will be ok, you are seeing effects now since the project isn't yet complete and the plants are not there to do their job".

These encouraging words came from our friend with the Army Corp of Engineers, Woody Francis. Nature does have ways or rearranging our surroundings. I walked around the pond and except for the higher water level it looks much better than I expected. The water is flowing out of the outfall pipe! How about that...it goes both ways.
I can't even begin to imagine the flooding we would have had without that pipe! Three years ago I remember the water from the pond running over the asphalt path. In fact, I have a photo of erosion on Harbour Drive that caved in part of the embankment, causing a big hole in the asphalt. People living on Bahia Drive remember the water coming up to the foundations of their houses. Keep in mind that back then the water had no way out and water had accumulated over years. the pond was full.

OK! So this was a setback, but only because we didn't have plants in establishing roots. Was it possible for us to have planted? NO! Time was not on our side.

We are all so grateful to Terry McGean, the Town Engineer, and the Powers That Be for saving this restoration. Without them we would still be on square one and flooding.

STORM WATER
Ernesto dumped more water than you can imagine here in Ocean City. We had steady, hard rain for 12 hours. The rain along with the wind did considerable damage throughout this area, including our pond. People that only lost shingles from their roofs consider themselves lucky. The fire department's brick building lost the entire wall. This was a brick-facing covering cinderblock. Today, the wall is a pile of bricks.
Yesterday, we had another deluge, flooding Coastal Highway to the point where only one lane was passable. Route #54 was closed to all traffic. Water came up the driveways on Bahia Drive. (Montego Bay is said to be the highest elevation in Ocean City) The mobile home parks off of Coastal Highway were all flooded. I don't know if this storm has been classified, but I do know water and wind are unpredictable, so be prepared.
The pictures will show you the high tide in the Assawoman Bay. All the storm drains in Ocean City empty into the Bay, but if the tide is above the pipe carrying off the water, the water in the streets and roads has no place to go. Water seeks its own level. This is why the water came through our outfall pipe, into the pond. The tide was higher than our pond.
We mere mortal find this inconvenient and costly, but this is how our environment gets clean. The Assawoman Bay is getting a good flushing today. It needed it! You must admit people haven't done much to keep it clean.
Today I'm going to wait for the tide to recede, and then I'm going to walk around the pond and assess how much damage was done to our new shoreline.

SAVE THE MARSHES AND WETLANDS
Over the long Labor Day weekend I worked on a brochure to broaden our base for membership to Friends of Walkers Pond, LTD. Yes, it took me that long because I'm an insecure profectionist. I just couldn't get those margins right.
We took the finished work to the printer. You probably want to know why I didn't do it myself…Because by the time I buy ink for the printer, good stock paper and spend a day folding a tri-fold paper, the cost is just about the same. Plus that, the professionals can do work in a few hours that would take me a week to finish. It's money well spent.
I put my work on the counter and the woman helping me folded her arms on the counter and was really looking at the pictures. Finally she said, " Where is this place?" I told her Montego Bay, Ocean City, and her face glowed. She grew up here. She remembered when our pond was a cove where they caught soft crabs. She reminisced about her childhood and how she and her dad would tie inner tubes to their bodies with a basket in it to gather the crabs. She said they had to step carefully and not step on a horseshoe crab hiding in the sand. She told us how the developer closed off the bay, ending their soft crabbing. They moved right after that.
This isn't the first time I was told about the soft crabbing in this area. There are many people living here today that have been here since this places inception.
When people wonder why we have so few crabs and fish we can now prove that without wetlands, marshes and good grass in the water there are no places for these creatures to breed and propagate.
Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to show the sloughing process of a crab! If we could get the salinity of the pond in proper proportions I wonder if we could do that? I've watched the metamorphosis of a butterfly, a wondrous occasion, and believe me the sloughing of a crab is mind-boggling. Have you ever seen a crab slough…would you like too?

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED
The pond suffered only minimal washout considering the amount of wind and rain we had here yesterday and last night. If we just had more time we could have had the jute matting put down so we wouldn't lose any sand. TIME!!
The pond has LOTS of water now, not only from the rain but water is coming into the pond through the outfall pipe because of the very high tide. The pipe had to have another opening put in to allow more water out while the heavy equipment was spreading the sand. When the tide becomes normal the water will run back out into the bay through that opening. I hope there is some sort of flange or valve that can be put on the outfall pipe once the shoreline has been established. With a valve we could determine the amount of water should be in the pond.
I have the greatest respect for wind and rain, especially living on this little fragile spit of land nestled between the Assawoman Bay and Walkers Pond.