May 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 48

ESTUARIES
Hudson Raritan Estuary
New York and New Jersey
Ecosystem Restoration Project
The
Hudson
Raritan Estuary
(HRE) is located within the boundaries
of the Port District of New
York and New Jersey and is situated
within a 25-mile radius of the
Statue of Liberty National Monument.
It is a complex ecological
system located within a highly urbanized
region.
Over the years, 1,000 miles of the
estuary's natural shorelines have
been replaced with piers, docks
and bulkheads. Restoring the estuary
is important because the ecosystem
provides habitat for birds, fish,
shellfish and other wildlife; maintains
water quality by filtering out
contaminated
recreational
sediments;
opportunities;
provides
boosts
the region's economy; and acts as
a buffer from flooding for coastal
communities during destructive and
powerful storms.
Lisa Baron, project manager for
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
New York District, says, " The plan
for the overall HRE program is to
restore a mosaic of 621 acres of
habitat at 20 individual project sites.
These projects will restore estuarine
and freshwater wetlands, shorelines,
fish passage, oyster reefs, shallow
water habitat, coastal forests and
Jamaica Bay marsh islands while
providing maximum ecological and
societal benefits to the region. "
Stony Creek Marsh Island
Restoration Project,
Jamaica Bay, New York
Jamaica Bay is located in portions
of the boroughs of Brooklyn and
Queens in New York City and is
part of the Jamaica Bay Park and
Wildlife Refuge, the country's first
national urban park and one of
the Gateway National Recreation
Areas that is visited by millions of
people each year.
The bay covers 26 square miles
and opens to the Atlantic Ocean. The
land surrounding the bay is heavily
developed and includes John F. Kennedy
International Airport, the Belt
Parkway and several landfills.
Inside the bay, there is a marsh island
complex. More than 2,000 acres
of marsh islands have been lost since
1924, and 85 percent of the wetlands
have been lost in the region.
In general, historic wetland loss
in the region is due to human development
that has included the
filling-in of marshes and open water
areas, hardening of shorelines,
input of raw and treated sewage,
sewer overflows and landfill leachate,
or water containing contaminants
seeping from landfills. It's
been estimated that the marsh islands,
if left alone, would vanish
completely by 2025.
Fortunately, the Army Corps,
along with partnering
agencies,
has restored more than 160 acres
of marsh islands in Jamaica Bay
through a number of successful restoration
projects.
According to Baron, " Restoring
these marsh islands provides
significant
benefits to the region. The
restored marsh islands keep the sediment
within the Jamaica Bay system;
wetland vegetation stabilizes
the island; the islands reduce waves
and erosion of surrounding shorelines
and adjacent islands; the wetlands
improve water quality within
the bay; and the marsh islands that
we construct will continue to build
the ecological resilience of the bay to
respond to increasing sea-level rise. "
Now with BIL funds, the Army
This aerial photo shows the Upper Bay and
Hudson River in New York City in 2018.
48 Parks & Recreation | MAY 2 0 2 3
| PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
Corps, in collaboration with the
New York City Department of
Environmental Protection, is planning
on restoring five additional
marsh islands, including one that
sits in the heart of the bay - Stony
Creek Marsh Island.
Sixty-two acres of the island will
be restored. To perform this work,
approximately 150,000 cubic yards
of sand will be beneficially used
from the dredging of the Jamaica
Bay Federal Navigation Channel or
Ambrose Channel and placed on the
island. The material will be graded
and contoured to appropriate elevations
suitable for a marsh and then
planted with native vegetation.
When completed, the island will
have 26 acres of low marsh, 22.5
PHOTO COURTESY OF U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
May 2023 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2023 - Parks & Recreation
