Tidal Marsh Restoration Monitoring At Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge In Delaware. Kenneth Smith (DCP) Susan Guiteras (USFWS)

Transcription

1 Tidal Marsh Restoration Monitoring At Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge In Delaware Kenneth Smith (DCP) Susan Guiteras (USFWS)

2 Prime Hook NWR Established in ,132 acres, mostly wetlands Divided into management units I - IV, natural and road boundaries 1980 s: Unit II and Unit III freshwater impoundments Overwashes and breaches 2006 Breach in Unit I only 2008 Mother s Day Storm Fall 2009 Two Unit II breaches Hurricane Sandy Two more breaches in Unit II

3 Unit I Unit I breach closing Breach formed in 2006 has since closed. Unit I serves as a Reference marsh for our restoration plans and monitoring Unit II Because the back-barrier marsh had been converted to a freshwater impoundment 20+ years ago, Unit II could not tolerate rapid salt water introduction, and it could not handle the otherwise natural process of overwash and breaching Post-Sandy New breaches 4 total now 2013 aerial imagery courtesy of Atkins Global

4 Past Monitoring Benthic Surveys- Unit 2 and 3 Unit 2 and Unit 3 RTK elevation Survey Unit 2 Unit 2 breaches and Prime Hook community Salinity Monitoring Salinity Transects Water Monitoring 7 real time data loggers 6 suspended sediment

5 Hydrodynamic Modeling Worked with Atkins Global to develop hydrodynamic model for wetland complex Circulation, flushing/residence time, salinity 2+ years of local water level and salinity data Additional local elevation and flow data collected Calibrated very well against normal tide as well as Sandy conditions Used to evaluate potential restoration scenarios Close all breaches + Remove water control structures + Addition of conveyance channels Conditions suitable for salt/brackish tidal marsh

6 Coastal Marsh Restoration Shoreline Stabilization Sandy Recovery Project Close breaches, restore dune and beach, 6000 linear ft in Unit II Extend about 300 feet into back barrier marsh About acres, to be planted with Spartina grasses Working with Army Corps of Engineers Fall/Winter 2015/2016 target timeframe Marsh Interior Restoration Sandy Resiliency Project Improve tidal circulation by creating tidal channel network Placed dredged material on-site in some areas of marsh interior Carefully monitor success of Recovery Project planting, sediment availability and transport, accretion, elevation Implement in

7 Project Status Sandy Money Dispersed: Army Corps of Engineers, shoreline recovery Private contractor, marsh restoration DNREC DCMP, cooperative agreement for monitoring Marsh Restoration Design: Based on modeling results Permitting & NEPA Supplemental EIS to be released very soon State and federal permitting process well underway

8 Are the predicted salinity and water levels being achieved? If not, where and why not? Is tidal marsh vegetation regenerating? Where? Where is it not returning? Is average elevation increasing over time at a rate greater than the local rate of relative SLR? Monitoring our Progress Are there sufficient levels of suspended sediments in the tidal channels? Are they reaching the marsh? Is the marsh supporting a healthy salt marsh bird community, particularly obligate species? How are fish moving through and utilizing the wetland complex?

9 Future Monitoring New Cooperative Agreement with DCMP Expanded Partnerships University of Delaware Delaware Geological Survey / UD DNREC Watershed Assessment Existing FWS Monitoring Efforts Saltmarsh Bird and Vegetation Communities Wintering Waterfowl

10 Fish Tagging Tags Tagged 20 American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) and 14 White Perch (Morone americana) September 18 th -19 th American Eel Tagging Lengths White Perch Tagging Lengths Amount tagged Amount tagged mm mm mm mm Length (mm) mm mm mm mm mm Length (mm)

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12 Fish Tagging Vemco VR2W Acoustic Monitoring Receiver 8 Locations Attached to an existing structure or a sign post Tagging data incorporated into the Atlantic Cooperative Telemetry (ACT) network

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14 Water Monitoring ADV Prime Hook Creek River Flow (m²/s) Dr. Chris Sommerfield (UD) HOBO Breach Mouth Water Temperature and Water Level (NAVD 88)

15 Total Suspended Solids 5 Locations ISCO

16 Temperature, Specific conductivity, Water Level (NAVD 88), Disolved Oxygen Saturation, and Disolved Oxygen Concentration 8 Locations: 3 Storm Telemetry Units Near Real Time Data-Hourly Sonde

17 Velocity (m/s) and Flow (m²/s) 5 Locations ADCP

18 Monitoring Salt Marsh Bird & Vegetation Communities Salt Marsh Integrity (SMI) / Saltmarsh Habitat & Avian Research Program (SHARP) Related but separate efforts, ongoing monitoring of salt marsh condition Bird, Vegetation, Nekton, Water Level, & Landscape metrics 2012: Baseline reference conditions in Unit I and Unit IV saltmarshes 2014: Implemented in Unit II (as feasible) 2015 & 2015 (and beyond): Will be repeated in Unit II University of Delaware Dr. Greg Shriver Integrated Waterbird Management & Monitoring (IWMM) Year-round waterbird surveys in designated areas of refuge Collaboration between FWS, states, Ducks Unlimited in Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways

19 Monitoring Salt Marsh Bird & Vegetation Communities Wintering Black Duck (And Other Waterfowl) Food Availability Measuring benthic food availability to quantify carrying capacity in marsh habitats Builds on work done statewide in recent years Pre-Sandy data exists; Pre-restoration data collection now Repeat in fall 2016 for initial post-restoration data collection University of Delaware Dr. Chris Williams Beach Nesting Birds Cooperating with DNREC (Matt Bailey) to ensure rigorous beach nesting bird monitoring

20 Future Work Fish Tagging Tag River Herring in Spring Add additional receivers- inside the breach Tom McKenna-DGS, UD Looking at thermal imagery for ground water inputs in the impoundments DNREC Watershed Stewardship Biomass Sampling, Marsh Health

21 Development of Marsh Restoration Monitoring Plan A living document, with the first working version almost completed Refuge CCP Barrier Beach and Salt Marsh Objectives Restoration Project Objectives Monitoring Objectives For each Objective, it identifies the questions being asked, and outlines how the answer will be measured Protocols will be compiled as appendices or by reference, as they are developed and as applicable

22 Partners & Contributors U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Annabella Larsen, Al Rizzo, Art Coppola, Bartholomew Wilson, John Gill, Steve Minkkinen Delaware DNREC DCMP: Robert Scarborough, Lyndie Hice-Dunton, Mike Mensinger, Drexel Siok Watershed Assessment: Alison Rogerson, Andrew Howard University of Delaware Chris Sommerfield, Greg Shriver, Chris Williams, Tom McKenna (DGS)