Church Creek Flood Storage & Resiliency at Mowler Drive & Wolk Court

Neighborhood-scale wetlands provide flood storage and enhance resilience in a suburban community in South Carolina’s Lowcountry.

In helping the City of Charleston, SC create the Church Creek Flood Storage and Resiliency Action Plan for the creek basin, Biohabitats identified and prioritized opportunities to implement nature-based solutions for flood control. One such opportunity was in the residential community of Shadowmoss, where the existing storm drain network, which conveyed flows to Church Creek and ultimately, the Ashley River, would frequently overflow and cause flooding during large storms.

Building on a preliminary engineering study, Biohabitats worked with the City to design and supervise construction of two half-acre wetlands to manage stormwater and reduce flooding in the Shadowmoss community. Strategically sited on a series of single family home buyout parcels procured by the City, the wetland cells collectively add stormwater storage to the landscape. Planted with native vegetation and habitat features such as locally sourced standing snags, woody debris, and down logs, the wetlands enhance biodiversity in the suburban community while also protecting it from flooding and improving water quality in Church Creek.

Biohabitats prepared final designs and managed permitting for both the Mowler Drive and Wolk Court wetlands. Biohabitats also supervised construction of the projects.

TAGS

• Analysis+Planning
• Assessment+Monitoring
• Design
• Climate Adaptation + Resilience
• Ecological Restoration