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Title:	Final Integrated Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Report and Environmental Assessment : Spring Creek North Ecosystem Restoration Project, Spring Creek Park, Brooklyn and Queens, NY, Continuing Authorities Program (CAP) Section 1135
Authors:	United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. New York District.
Keywords:	Restoration ecology Environmental management Environmental protection Salt marsh restoration Jamaica Bay (N.Y.)
Publisher:	United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. New York District.
Abstract:	This report presents the results of an investigation to determine the feasibility of salt marsh ecosystem restoration at Spring Creek (North) Park, in the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York. The Spring Creek Integrated Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Report and Environmental Assessment (FR/EA) has been prepared by the New York District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE, Corps) with the non-federal project partner, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks). USACE has authority under Section 1135 of WRDA 1986, as amended, to participate with environmental restoration projects in areas degraded by previous federal actions. The study area encompasses all of Spring Creek Park and the northeastern portion of Jamaica Bay. The project site is comprised of undeveloped City of New York parkland that straddles the boundary between the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens in Kings and Queens Counties, New York. A portion of the 47 acre project site has been evaluated for opportunities to be restored to intertidal salt marsh and maritime upland. This area, referred to as the restoration area, is bound to the north by Flatlands Avenue, to the east by 77th Street, and to the west by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) Spring Creek Auxiliary Waste Water Treatment Plant. The restoration area is bound to the south by Spring and Ralph’s Creeks. Over an 80 year period (1920’s to the present), the salt marsh community at Spring Creek was altered by the dredging and filling activities associated with the construction and maintenance of the Jamaica Bay Federal Navigation Channel, as well as locally constructed dredging and filling projects directly related to the Federal Navigation Channel and permitted by the Corps. Between 1939 and 1948, the Federal Navigation Channel was extended from the Canarsie Piers into the eastern part of the bay; by 1970, the channel dredging was extended northward into Old Mill Creek and the southern part of Spring Creek. Dredge material was deposited on the marshes surrounding Mill Creek, Spring Creek, Betts Creek, and Ralph’s Creek. Today the majority of Mill Creek and all of Betts Creek are filled or piped. The recommended plan is the National Ecosystem Restoration (NER) plan. The goal of this project is to contribute to the National Ecosystem Restoration by restoring degraded ecosystem structure, function, and dynamic processes to less degraded and more natural conditions. This goal would be accomplished by excavating and re-contouring uplands to intertidal elevations, removing invasive plant species, and replanting with native plant species. The overall project purpose is to improve the environmental quality (water, diversity and wildlife habitat) of Spring Creek and its associated salt marshes as part of the overall Jamaica Bay Ecosystem. The NER plan has a total average annual cost of $429,827 with 7.6 acres of low marsh, 5.4 acres of high marsh, 22.1 acres of maritime upland (including non-federal enhancement actions), for a total of 35.1 acres.
Description:	Feasibility Report and Environmental Assessment
Rights:	Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited
URI:	https://hdl.handle.net/11681/38063
Size:	521 pages / 49.29 MB
Types of Materials:	PDF
Appears in Collections:	Environmental Documents