Hydroseeding, also known as hydromulching, has increased in popularity as a water quality protection practice. Hydroseeding quickly and cost-effectively stabilizes disturbed areas and prevents erosion along roadsides and at construction projects.

Hydroseeding is a process by which seed, water, fertilizer, fiber mulch, and sometimes lime are blended together in a tank and applied to a disturbed area through a spray hose. Once sprayed, the wet fiber mulch helps form a bond to the soil and provides the seed with a water retaining “blanket” that protects it from sunlight, wind, and erosion. As the grass seed begins to germinate, the fiber mulch slowly decomposes adding nutrients to the soil. Hydroseeding allows bare soils to be re-vegetated very rapidly, often within a matter of weeks, preventing the soil from being carried off with stormwater into nearby lakes and streams.
 

Dr. Frank Browne, P.E., President of
F. X. Browne, Inc. tries his hand at hydroseeding at the 15^th Annual NEIWPCC Nonpoint Source Pollution Conference in Lake George, NY
- May 2004

An example of the creative use of hydroseeding as a lake and watershed restoration measure is a new program in the Lake George, NY watershed, the Lake George Basin Roadway Erosion Control Program (LBBRECP). Lake George is a 32-mile long natural lake located in the southern Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. The nine municipalities and three counties along the lake are heavily dependent on the tourist dollars and recreational value the lake provides. The Lake George Watershed Conference was formed in 1999 to involve stakeholders from local government, local businesses, state officials, and private landowners in protecting the water quality in Lake George. Due to intense development pressure in the Lake George watershed, the lake has begun to experience some of the classic problems plaguing recreational lakes everywhere: nutrient enrichment, siltation, invasive species, etc.
 

After the success of a pilot program in 1994, the Lake George Watershed Conference and the Warren County Conservation District determined that one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce the amount of nutrients and sediment entering Lake George via stormwater was to maintain adequate vegetative cover over as much of the watershed as possible. This was accomplished by purchasing a $32,000 hydroseeder using three different grants, and making the hydroseeding service available to state, county and local highway departments at no cost. The seed and mulch materials are paid for using Clean Water Act 319 Grant funds. Beginning in 2004, whenever the highway departments create a soil disturbance on municipal land in an area where stormwater runoff could negatively impact Lake George or its tributaries, they can call the Warren County Conservation District to come in and rapidly stabilize the area by hydroseeding. According to the Warren County Conservation District, after several years of discussions and cost-benefit analyses, not only have many of the municipal departments in the watershed taken advantage of the program, but so have the New York State Department of Transportation and Warren County Department of Public Works. The Warren County Conservation District estimates that in 2004, the District managed to save 240 tons of soil from entering Lake George and its tributaries. For information on the 2004 Lake George hydroseeding program, and some nice before and after pictures, visit http://www.warrenswcd.org/currentnews/hydroseeder/index.html.

For more information on erosion control or soil stabilization measures, contact info@fxbrowne.com.