Tidal Marsh Restoration Monitoring At Prime Hook National Wildlife ...
Tidal Marsh Restoration Monitoring At Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge In Delaware Kenneth Smith (DCP) Susan Guiteras (USFWS)
Prime Hook NWR Established in 1963 10,132 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
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
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
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
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 40-60 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 2015-2016
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
Monitoring our Progress 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?
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?
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
Fish Tagging Tags
Tagged 20 American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) and 14 White Perch (Morone americana) – September 18th-19th American Eel Tagging Lengths
White Perch Tagging Lengths
10
6
9 5
7
Amount tagged
Amount tagged
8 6 5 4 3 2
4 3 2 1
1 0 300-399 mm
400- 499 mm
500-599 mm
Length (mm)
600-699 mm
0 200-220 mm 221-240 mm 241-260 mm 261-280 mm 281-300 mm Length (mm)
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
A
Water Monitoring ADV • Prime Hook Creek • River Flow (m²/s) • Dr. Chris Sommerfield (UD)
HOBO • Breach Mouth • Water Temperature and Water Level (NAVD 88)
ISCO Total Suspended Solids 5 Locations
Sonde 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
ADCP Velocity (m/s) and Flow (m²/s) 5 Locations
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
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
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
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
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)
Prime Hook NWR Established in 1963 10,132 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
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
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
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
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 40-60 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 2015-2016
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
Monitoring our Progress 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?
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?
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
Fish Tagging Tags
Tagged 20 American Eel (Anguilla rostrata) and 14 White Perch (Morone americana) – September 18th-19th American Eel Tagging Lengths
White Perch Tagging Lengths
10
6
9 5
7
Amount tagged
Amount tagged
8 6 5 4 3 2
4 3 2 1
1 0 300-399 mm
400- 499 mm
500-599 mm
Length (mm)
600-699 mm
0 200-220 mm 221-240 mm 241-260 mm 261-280 mm 281-300 mm Length (mm)
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
A
Water Monitoring ADV • Prime Hook Creek • River Flow (m²/s) • Dr. Chris Sommerfield (UD)
HOBO • Breach Mouth • Water Temperature and Water Level (NAVD 88)
ISCO Total Suspended Solids 5 Locations
Sonde 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
ADCP Velocity (m/s) and Flow (m²/s) 5 Locations
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
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
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
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
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)
