Ware Creek Living Shoreline Project at Naval Weapons Station Earle
Project Purpose:
Test whether an artificial oyster reef installation will reduce energy that is eroding the mouth of the creek.
Brief Description:
NY/NJ Baykeeper and Rutgers University, Center for Urban Environmental Sustainability (CUES) will install vertical oyster support structures at the mouth of Ware Creek to test the effects of such a structure on dampening water flows and velocities, including during extreme weather events. This project is part of a larger, 200-acre restoration and enhancement proposed by Naval Weapons Station Earle (NWSE), located in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, NJ.
As part of a baseline evaluation of the area, prior to installing the oysters and structures, flow meters and transducers have been installed to evaluate water movement and flow velocities due to upland stormwater runoff entering Ware Creek and storm surge activity from Sandy Hook Bay. This evaluation assisted in determining the source of shoreline erosion and helped to gain a better understanding of currents and storm/wave energy in the project vicinity. Dissolved oxygen, salinity, pH, temperature, turbidity and chlorophyll have been recorded.
Baykeeper created a living shoreline using clusters of oyster castles set with oyster spat within a 0.91-acre area adjacent to Ware Creek. The location provides sufficient water depth to cover the vertical structures during all tides to protect from ice.
The castles will first be set with oyster larvae in tanks within our aquaculture facility. The castles set with oysters will be moved to the previously NJDEP-approved oyster project nursery area and left to grow for a maximum of two months before being moved to the 0.91-acre living shoreline project area.
Project partners will monitor the structures three times per year to determine the overall stability after exposure to currents and waves; whether the structures have shifted from the initial configuration; and whether oysters or other organisms are growing on the structures.
Resource Values/Project Outputs:
The use of living shoreline strategies serves multiple roles by controlling erosion, maintaining natural coastal processes, and sustaining biodiversity and provide a viable alternative to common hardened structures such as bulkheads, stone revetments, and seawalls. If the project is successful, these activities will restore, protect, and enhance multiple habitat types in the water and along the shoreline and address the loss of vegetated shorelines and habitat in the littoral zone as well as test whether vertical structures can influence the sediment deposition patterns near the Ware Creek shoreline by reducing the energy that is eroding the mouth of the creek.
Cost/Budget:
-
Senior Personnel - $29,000
-
University Intern Stipend - $4,500
Please note:
US Naval Weapon Station Earle has made an invaluable in-kind donation not reflected in the overall project budget by providing bay bottom, security patrols, and administrative support to the Ware Creek Living Shoreline Project.
Administrative Support $1,000
Field Technician(s) $13,000
Consultant(s) $17,425
Other Administrative Support $8,275
Fringe $6,500
Travel $1,000
Oyster Castles $8,000
Oyster Larvae $1,000
Shell Substrate $2,000
Reef Supplies $1,500
Lab Monitoring Supplies $3,000
Native Plants and Grasses $2,000
Disease Testing for Oysters $1,500
Aquaculture Facility Repair and Maintenance $1,000
Office Supplies (waterproof paper, etc.) $550
General Field Supplies (walkie talkies, etc.) $1,000
Phones $250
Boat and Diving Rentals $1,500
Aquaculture Facility Space $24,000
Boat Operations and Maintenance $2,000
Miscellaneous Supplies $2,500
Total Project Budget $132,500
Schedule:
Spring 2016: Prepared aquaculture facility and performed baseline studies
Summer 2016: Set oyster castles and placed in nursery area
Summer 2016/Fall 2016: Began installation of living shoreline with oyster castles set with larvae
Fall, Spring, Summer 2017: Monitor project site and expand the living shoreline by double the amount of oyster castles
Spring, Summer, Fall 2018: Expand within 0.91 acres by adding more castles; plant vegetation
Permit Status:
NJDEP General permit 24 (living shorelines) for 0.91 acres: secured Jan. 2016; Army Corps of Engineer Permit and NJDEP Bureau of Tidelands License secured May 2016.
List of Partners:
Rutgers University, Center for Urban Environmental Sustainability, Johanette Wallerstein Foundation, Victoria Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Marta Helfin Foundation, OHMSETT, NY/NJ Baykeeper, Proud Pour, Inc., Brown-Forman Group, and Naval Weapons Station Earle
What is requested from the CWRP/Contribution: Below, please see a breakdown of the $25,000 requested from CWRP.
Oyster Castles $8,000
Oyster Larvae $1,000
Reef Supplies $1,500
Lab Monitoring Supplies $3,000
Native Plants and Grasses $2,000
Disease Testing for Oysters $1,500
Aquaculture Facility Repair and Maintenance $1,000
General Field Supplies (walkie talkies, etc.) $1,000
Boat and Diving Rentals $1,500
Boat Operations and Maintenance $2,000
Miscellaneous Supplies $2,500
Total Budget Requested from CWRP $25,000
Point of Contact:
Meredith DeMarco, Director of Development; 732-888-9870 x4; mdemarco@nynjbaykeeper.org