Swamp Pink Preservation Project

What do rare flowers have to do with a sewer plant?

In Camden County, the CCMUA is applying its dedication to improving the environment to protect one of the few surviving clusters of swamp pink.

Swamp pink is a rare and endangered flower. New Jersey shelters most of the remaining stands of swamp pink. It can also be found in Delaware and Japan.

[Photo - Swamp pink flower Swamp pink flowers have been described as looking like fragrant bright pink "koosh" balls. The flowers bloom for only a week, early in the spring. The flower cluster grows at the top of a tall stem. It has narrow pink blossoms dotted with blue anthers sticking out in all directions.

But why is such a pretty little flower endangered?

Even though the flowers produce many seeds, few of the seeds grow into new plants. Swamp pink usually depends on spreading from the roots of established clumps.

Today, established clumps of swamp pink are finding it harder and harder to survive, let alone spread.

Swamp pink can only grow in ground that is saturated with clean water, but not flooded. It has to have shade to survive. The soil has to be fertile enough, but not too fertile - or it will be squeezed out by competing plants. It can even be killed by too much enthusiasm, if people trample areas where swamp pink grows or collect plants to try to grow them.

Most of the known populations of swamp pink are in South Jersey, but even here nearly a third of the areas where swamp pink used to grow have been lost. Cutting down wooded areas and draining wetlands destroys swamp pink habitats. Polluted water and erosion are added problems.

The CCMUA is taking steps to save one endangered swamp pink population right here in Camden County. A storm drainage system next to the woods where swamp pink grows is situated so that heavy rains flood the swamp pink area. The problem is made worse by a broken culvert.

The CCMUA has drawn up plans, with the approval and recommendations of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, to remove these threats. The culvert will be repaired, and a berm will be constructed to redirect and slow water flow from storms.

In July, 2003, the CCMUA contracted with Ivymont Construction of Audubon to carry out this work, at a cost of about $34,000. The project is expected to start in September and take about 60 days of work.

(Want to know more about swamp pink? Here are some places to start.)