A groundbreaking ceremony for the Crabtree Swamp Restoration Initiative was held this morning.
The project was conceived in April 2007 as an effort to restore Crabtree Swamp in and near Conway and is a unique collaboration that involves local governments, conservation districts, state and federal agencies, landowners, nonprofits, and universities.
According to Horry County Director of Public Information, Lisa Bourcier, Crabtree Swamp drains approximately 60% of the City of Conway and considerable acreage in Horry County. Historically, the watershed was mostly agricultural in nature. In the mid-1960s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed an 8.5-mile channelization project in Crabtree Swamp to enhance agricultural drainage. This project created what is now known as the Crabtree Canal.
In recent years, however, due to changing land use and increased growth in the drainage area, Crabtree is increasingly receiving drainage from urban and suburban lands. As a result, increased flow has eroded the banks making them unstable; sometimes the canal’s storage capacity is exceeded. Maintenance costs have increased and Crabtree Swamp appears on the federal list of impaired waters for fecal coliform concentrations and low dissolved oxygen. The project is designed to deal with these issues and improve conditions in Crabtree Swamp. It is hoped that the demonstration project can be replicated in the future along other stretches of Crabtree and similar drainage canals to further improve water conditions.
The Crabtree Swamp Restoration Initiative involves willing landowners who agreed to have 2,400 feet of their property along Crabtree Canal reshaped with new terraced banks, which are designed to increase flood storage, stabilize the banks with native vegetation, and reduce erosion and provide habitat for wildlife. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s South Carolina Coastal Program has committed $10,000 for native vegetation following construction. In addition, technical assistance for the project has been provided by South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Coastal Carolina University, and Clemson University.
The construction work will start once design and permitting are finalized and work is anticipated to be completed in approximately six months.
For more information on the Crabtree Swamp Restoration Initiative, please contact Tom Garigen, Horry County Stormwater Director, at 915-6950 or Joe Dignam, City of Conway Stormwater Director, at 248-1730.
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