In 1996, two devastating floods caused catastrophic damage across a four-county area of Western Maryland, and the town of Westernport, at the confluence of Georges Creek and the Potomac River, was among the hardest hit. Westernport became one of the first communities to incorporate non-structural alternatives in flood recovery efforts. Phase I included purchasing and removing 27 homes within the floodplain, reconstructing streambank retaining walls to protect highway infrastructure, repairing and relocating sanitary sewers, and restoring and re-establishing the floodplain along a one-mile stretch of Georges Creek in Westernport. In Phase II, Westernport Creekside Park was developed in the newly acquired floodplain open space. The planning process included students, educators, senior citizens, property owners, businesses, civic organizations, community leaders, and elected officials. The Greenway Park plan complemented the floodplain restoration work, provided educational opportunities and areas for passive recreation, and set out a long-term conceptual vision for use of the Georges Creek floodplain and related community resources. The non-structural approach used vegetation along streambanks to slow flow, reduce erosion and downstream flood peaks, create pools and riffles that improved fish habitat, provide shade that helped maintain water temperature, reduce bank erosion and channel deposition through bioengineering methods, lower maintenance costs, and help the creek stabilize itself and maintain its banks and channel.