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Title:	Braddock Bay Restoration, USEPA Economy Act, P2#395893 : Feasibility Study
Authors:	United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Buffalo District.
Keywords:	Braddock Bay (N.Y.) Restoration ecology Environmental management Environmental protection
Publisher:	United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Buffalo District.
Abstract:	The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was requested to provide assistance in developing a study to evaluate the feasibility of an array of measures to implement aquatic ecosystem restoration at Braddock Bay, Monroe County, New York along the southern shoreline of Lake Ontario. Braddock Bay is an important coastal resource consisting of extensive wetland and open water habitat that supports fish, migratory birds, and other wildlife. The habitat provided by this once diverse emergent wetland has been degraded over the last century due to dominance by several species of cattail and the invasive common reed (Phragmites spp). The emergent marsh is also gradually eroding as a result of the loss of the barrier beaches and the spits of land which historically protected the bay ecosystem from wave energy. Since 1902, 106 acres (59 percent) of the original coastal emergent wetlands at Braddock Bay have been lost. Erosion of the marsh within the bay has occurred at a rate of 0.4 – 1.0 acre per year over the past 100 years. To facilitate coordination with Federal, State and local resource agencies with mutual interests in the project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) formed the BBITC. This committee consisted of representatives of Federal, State, and local partners with technical experience and interest in the project. The objectives of this study include: (1) restore aquatic habitat diversity in Braddock Bay to improve its suitability for fish and wildlife, including northern pike, American mink, and the state listed black tern during the planning period of 2015 - 2065, and (2) protect Braddock Bay wetlands from erosion during planning period of 2015 - 2065. In addition to being able to effectively address these planning objectives, alternatives were also screened against a number of constraints including avoiding negative impacts to littoral sediment dynamics, water quality, and navigation operation. Although a total of 19 alternatives were evaluated during the study, only seven (i.e., 1, 2, 3, 6b, 7b, 7c, and 7e) were determined to be cost effective, conform to project constraints, and were found effective at accomplishing at least one of the project objectives. These alternatives were presented to the Remedial Action Committee (RAC) and compared against one another to determine their relative advantages and disadvantages. Alternative 7c was determined to provide the greatest amount of ecological benefit (as measured by habitat units), is economically justified, and addresses both planning objectives and was therefore identified as the selected alternative by the remedial Action Committee of Rochester. Alternative 7c protects and restores Braddock Bay, a 340 acre coastal wetland consisting of 180 acres of emergent marsh and 160 acres of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) at a total project cost of $9.3 million. Specifically this alternative will restore the emergent marsh through 9.65 acres of channeling and potholing (C&P), 5.3 acres of Invasive Species Treatment (IST), and will restore the historic barrier beach through combination of hard and soft components. The restored barrier beach will reduce wave energy in the bay protecting 11.5 to 27.5 acres of emergent marsh over the project life while also reducing the amount of littoral sediment that gets trapped in Braddock Bay, restoring the local littoral drift system. Additionally, barrier beach restoration will create a 2.6 acre sand beach favorable to shorebirds, and 15 acres of submerged aquatic habitat. Together, these actions help to improve the quality and resiliency of the Braddock Bay ecosystem. This Feasibility Study was prepared by the USACE for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). This report enables the RAC to select a plan that may be incorporated into the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern (AoC) RAC Plan for Beneficial Use Impairment (BUI) delisting. The features of this project are expected to contribute to addressing the Loss of Fish and Wildlife Habitat BUI and support delisting of the AoC. This committee will make a recommendation to the USEPA on whether or not the proposed project is required for delisting of the AoC which may make the project eligible for additional funding for the design phase.
Description:	Feasibility Study
Rights:	Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited
URI:	https://hdl.handle.net/11681/38131
Size:	815 pages / 150.55 MB
Types of Materials:	PDF
Appears in Collections:	Environmental Documents