Edgewater-Davidsonville Patch reader Loretta Faulkner wrote last week to see if Patch could find out about the fenced pond in front of Edgewater Elementary.

"It is over grown and full of trash. I was under the impression that the school did this as a science project for the students. I can't imagine any students going in there. I can only imagine snakes. My daughter will be attending kindergarten at Edgewater Elementary and I would like to know who is responsible for cleaning it up and maintaining the landscaping around it? I (and I hope other parents would as well) would be more than willing to help clean this up  as long as it will be maintained there-after. 

If you can find out more information for me, I would appreciate it. I love Edgewater and I want it to look good, especially the school."

We checked in with a few local master gardeners, who gave us the answer.

Lara Mulvaney of Davidsonville is a watershed steward who works at Arlington Echo in Millersville. She told us the project is an important stormwater-management pond that effectively treats stormwater and reduces previously occurring flooding.

She said the pond was originally planted with the help of students from Edgewater Elementary along with others from county government. The county now takes care of mowing the perimeter of the fenced area.

Mulvaney said there shouldn't typically be standing water there, only what takes time to drain after a rainfall.

"The water that enters this pond and is now filtered [had] previously rushed off Edgewater streets, carrying lots of pollution directly into Warehouse Creek," Mulvaney said.

Mulvaney forwarded the note on to master watershed steward Carolyn Ricketts, who lives near the pond. Ricketts responded quickly and said the trash is really an ongoing problem, due in part to the project proximity to the school and Edgewater Park (athletic fields that sit behind the the school).

Ricketts said that last fall the county and the Department of Public Works conducted maintenance, including pruning, trimming, and other cleanup.

"A stormwater pond is never going to have that manicured garden and lawn look," Ricketts said. "To thrive and serve its purpose, it needs to have mature plants and rather dense vegetation."

Ricketts said switchgrass, which can get rather long, can provide food for birds, as well as control erosion. Ricketts said she believed the school uses the project for environmental instruction, as well.

Ricketts returned to the topic of litter and said the area seems to be a dumping ground.

"The neighboring communities are tired of it," Ricketts said.

She said a new group has been formed, tentatively called the Edgewater Park Environmental Group, with plans to clean up and improve the park and environs.

Ricketts said the pond, despite the litter problem, is an enormous asset.

In 2002, there was a study conducted, the "Warehouse Creek Stormwater Management Master Plan Study," which showed that as much as 900 acres of land surrounding the creek directly impact the tributary.

Geographically, Warehouse Creek, a tributary to the South River, sits to the north of the neighborhood of South River Park and to the south behind Kalas Funeral Home and the Edgewater CVS.

"This one stormwater pond slows the water down, cools it off, and filters a tremendous amount of runoff containing bacteria, pollutants, sediment and trash from flowing into Warehouse Creek," Ricketts said.

Even though it is an eyeseore to see the trash there, Ricketts said residents should try to picture in their minds what the creek would look like if the trash flowed into there rather than the stormwater pond where it can be picked up and managed.

She said she would encourage anyone who walks in the area to take a bag and collect the trash to keep it looking nice.

"I have become a trash collector," Ricketts said of her evening walks in the community. She said about 99 percent of the trash she collects is recyclable. "It's plastic bottles, cans and paper."