Scott C. Mielke, P.E. · 30+ years on the Chesapeake

8348 Governor Ritchie Hwy, Pasadena · 410-798-1494

WEDC — Waterfront Engineering, Design & Construction Inc. — home
Call
A spartina marsh shoreline with weathered timber pilings standing in shallow bay water in low afternoon light.

Where yourshoreline meetssix agencies.

Below Mean High Water, your property answers to MDE, the Army Corps and more. Here is how it works, in plain English.

Request a Site Evaluation 410-798-1494

The line that decides who you need to ask.

Shoreline cross-section showing who has jurisdiction A profile from an upland lawn down a stone revetment into the bay bottom. Above Mean High Water is the county critical-area buffer. Below Mean High Water, the Maryland Department of the Environment and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have jurisdiction. UPLAND MEAN LOW WATER BAY BOTTOM MEAN HIGH WATER County critical area upland buffer MDE tidal wetlands · U.S. Army Corps
Typical shoreline section · not to scale · for illustration
Turkey Point, 2019: timber pilings standing in the water off the finished revetment.
Turkey Point, 2019 · the same line, on a real WEDC shoreline

What is Mean High Water?

The average height of the high tides at your shoreline, measured over many years. On a survey it is a line, and in Maryland it marks where State tidal wetlands begin.

Why does it matter to you?

Anything you build or repair below that line — a revetment, a living shoreline, a bulkhead, a pier, a boat lift, dredging — needs State and federal authorization. Above it, county critical-area rules govern the buffer along your shore.

Who works out where it is?

Your engineer. WEDC locates the line on your property and draws every proposed structure against it, so each agency sees exactly what sits where.

A quiet residential dock and small boathouse on a tidal creek, autumn trees reflected in still water.

Six agencies, in plain English.

Every station has the same three questions. Read the last line of each one.

Station 01

Maryland Department of the Environment

What they review
Work in State tidal wetlands below Mean High Water — shoreline stabilization, piers, bulkheads, dredging — and whether a living shoreline is suitable, which Maryland generally prefers.
What WEDC prepares
The site plan, cross-sections and the tidal wetlands application, with responses to every reviewer comment.
What you do
Nothing — sign the application.

Station 02

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

What they review
The federal side of the same work: structures and fill in navigable waters and wetlands, including effects on navigation.
What WEDC prepares
The federal application and supporting drawings, coordinated with the State application so both describe the same project.
What you do
Nothing — sign the application.

Station 03

EPA

What they review
Federal water-quality standards that apply to work in the Bay and its tributaries.
What WEDC prepares
Sediment and erosion controls and construction specifications written to meet them.
What you do
Nothing — it is built into the plans.

Station 04

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

What they review
Effects on protected species and habitat along your shoreline.
What WEDC prepares
Habitat information for the review and any timing or construction conditions written into the plans.
What you do
Nothing — sign the application.

Station 05

Maryland Historical Trust

What they review
Whether the work could affect historic or archaeological resources, on land or underwater.
What WEDC prepares
Project information for the review, and any follow-up the Trust requests.
What you do
Tell Scott anything you know about your property’s history.

Station 06

County zoning, critical area & environmental review

What they review
Critical-area buffer rules, grading, building permits and local zoning for the upland side of the line.
What WEDC prepares
Buffer management and mitigation plans, sediment and erosion control plans, and permit drawings — plus representation at any hearing.
What you do
Sign the application. If a hearing is needed, Scott attends with you.

Your part is short.

One relationship instead of five handoffs: the engineer who evaluates your shoreline also designs it, permits it, bids it and watches it built.

A homeowner sitting on her dock reading a set of site plans, the bay behind her.

Your part

  1. 01Call, and walk your shoreline with Scott.
  2. 02Review and approve the design.
  3. 03Sign the applications, then choose your contractor.

WEDC’s part

  1. 01Site evaluation and conceptual solution
  2. 02Site development plan and drawings
  3. 03Construction specifications
  4. 04State tidal wetlands application (MDE)
  5. 05Federal application (U.S. Army Corps)
  6. 06County, critical-area and building permits
  7. 07Responses to every agency comment
  8. 08Hearings, if one is required
  9. 09Bidding documents and contractor selection
  10. 10Construction oversight through final approvals
Turkey Point, 2019: an excavator placing stone behind a yellow turbidity curtain.

Permit conditions in practice: a turbidity curtain contains sediment while stone is placed.

Turkey Point · 2019

WEDC office8348 Governor Ritchie Hwy
Pasadena, MD 21122

Start permitting

Request a Site Evaluation

410-798-1494

Scott walks your shoreline before anything is drawn.