BURNET BAY WETLAND RESTORATION PROJECT · PDF filephilip smith, galvesgalvesgalvestonton...
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Upon completion, the project resulted in the restoration of over 30 acres of intertidal marsh complex within Burnet Bay. Since construction, GBF hosted several community‐based marsh grass planting events, known locally as “Marsh Mania,” at this site. Over 200 community and corporate volunteers have contributed 962 volunteer‐hours by planting stems of smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) on the marsh mounds. Once established, the marsh grass will function to provide habitat and feeding grounds for fish and birds, improve water quality, and absorb wave energy to protect from shoreline erosion. Already, the new habitat mounds are utilized by several species of birds including terns, black skimmers, white and brown pelicans, as well as flounder and other aquatic species. In June 2010, GBF even spotted and photographed a bald eagle flying around the marsh restoration site and resting on one of the mounds. BURNET BAY WETLAND RESTORATION PROJECT BURNET BAY WETLAND RESTORATION PROJECT BURNET BAY WETLAND RESTORATION PROJECT BAYTOWN, TX BAYTOWN, TX BAYTOWN, TX PHILIP SMITH, GALVES PHILIP SMITH, GALVES PHILIP SMITH, GALVES TON BAY FOUNDATION, TON BAY FOUNDATION, TON BAY FOUNDATION, WEBSTER, TX WEBSTER, TX WEBSTER, TX SCOTT WILLIAMS, COAS SCOTT WILLIAMS, COAS SCOTT WILLIAMS, COAS TAL PROGRAM, U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, CLEAR LAKE, TX TAL PROGRAM, U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, CLEAR LAKE, TX TAL PROGRAM, U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, CLEAR LAKE, TX Burnet Bay is a sub‐bay of the Galveston Bay system located off of the San Jacinto River adjacent to the Upper Houston Ship Channel. It lies west of the City of Baytown and south of the intersection of Interstate 10 and North Independence Parkway. It is bounded by North Independence Parkway and the Lynchburg Ferry to the west, residential properties to the north and east, and the Baytown Nature Center (formerly the subsided Brownwood Subdivision) to the south. Burnet Bay is directly across the Houston Ship Channel from the San Jacinto State Historical Park. Contact the Texas Coastal Program for more information regarding available U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service partnerships. Contact the Texas Coastal Program for more information regarding available U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service partnerships. John Huffman, Coastal Program Coordinator, John Huffman, Coastal Program Coordinator, Scott Williams or Woody Woodrow at (281) 286 Scott Williams or Woody Woodrow at (281) 286 ‐ ‐ 8282, Clear Lake Field Office 8282, Clear Lake Field Office Beau Hardegree or Tim Anderson at (361) 994 Beau Hardegree or Tim Anderson at (361) 994 ‐ ‐ 9005, Corpus Christi Field Office 9005, Corpus Christi Field Office Contact GBF for more information regarding this project and other restoration opportunities around Galveston Bay. Contact GBF for more information regarding this project and other restoration opportunities around Galveston Bay. Bob Stokes, President Bob Stokes, President Philip Smith, Habitat Restoration Coordinator, (281) 332 Philip Smith, Habitat Restoration Coordinator, (281) 332 ‐ ‐ 3381 3381 www.galvbay.org www.galvbay.org Project Partners The goal of the Burnet Bay Wetlands Restoration Project was to restore intertidal marsh elevations within the heavily subsided segment of Burnet Bay adjacent to North Independence Parkway. Geotechnical analysis of the site revealed that this area consisted of a shallow, hard bottom, making it very conducive to wetlands restoration work. Due to the concern of suspending sediments and potentially exposing legacy pollutants, extensive chemical analysis was conducted within and adjacent to the project area. This project was engineered and designed with the specific intention of avoiding impacts to existing resources within Burnet Bay. Some of the obstacles that had to be “engineered around” included pipelines, utility towers, and significant areas of oyster reef. The project engineer designed the placement and size of the marsh mounds around these obstacles/resources in such as way that neither existing resources nor expected project benefits were compromised. Construction utilized best management practices to reduce water turbidity and lessen localized, short‐term impacts to water quality and nearby organisms, particularly sessile ones. The project was constructed by hydraulically dredging on‐site material from a designated borrow area and creating earthen mounds to raise elevations to levels that would support intertidal marsh vegetation. Earthen berms, constructed by sidecasting in situ material, were also constructed to serve as protection for the mounds. Construction broke ground in June 2009 and was completed during the first week in October 2009. The Galveston Bay system has lost over 35,000 acres of wetlands during the last fifty years. The wetlands in Galveston Bay provide essential habitat for over 90% of the recreationally and commercially harvested finfish and shellfish caught in the Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Historical aerial images (below) show that Burnet Bay, between the northwestern shoreline and North Independence Parkway, experienced a gradual loss of these marshes (as well as upland areas) between 1944 and 1969. By 1978, nearly all of these vital habitats were lost due to land surface subsidence. Land subsidence is the lowering of the land‐surface elevation from changes that take place underground, by natural processes or human activity. In the greater Houston area, land subsidence is caused by the withdrawal of groundwater. In the project area, subsidence was severe, equaling nearly eight feet between 1906 and 1987. Since the late 1970s, subsidence has been largely abated along the Houston Ship Channel and in the Baytown and Pasadena areas in the coastal lowlands south and east of Houston owing to a reduction in groundwater pumping. 1944 1969 2005 November 2009 September 2009 November 2010 Map By: Harris Galveston Subsidence District
Transcript of BURNET BAY WETLAND RESTORATION PROJECT · PDF filephilip smith, galvesgalvesgalvestonton...
Upon completion, the project resulted in the restoration of over 30 acres of intertidal marsh complex within Burnet Bay. Since construction, GBF hosted several community‐based marsh grass planting events, known locally as “Marsh Mania,” at this site. Over 200 community and corporate volunteers have contributed 962 volunteer‐hours by planting stems of smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) on the marsh mounds. Once established, the marsh grass will function to provide habitat and feeding grounds for fish and birds, improve water quality, and absorb wave energy to protect from shoreline erosion. Already, the new habitat mounds are utilized by several species of birds including terns, black skimmers, white and brown pelicans, as well as flounder and other aquatic species. In June 2010, GBF even spotted and photographed a bald eagle flying around the marsh restoration site and resting on one of the mounds.
BURNET BAY WETLAND RESTORATION PROJECTBURNET BAY WETLAND RESTORATION PROJECTBURNET BAY WETLAND RESTORATION PROJECT BAYTOWN, TXBAYTOWN, TXBAYTOWN, TX
PHILIP SMITH, GALVESPHILIP SMITH, GALVESPHILIP SMITH, GALVESTON BAY FOUNDATION, TON BAY FOUNDATION, TON BAY FOUNDATION, WEBSTER, TXWEBSTER, TXWEBSTER, TX SCOTT WILLIAMS, COASSCOTT WILLIAMS, COASSCOTT WILLIAMS, COASTAL PROGRAM, U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, CLEAR LAKE, TXTAL PROGRAM, U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, CLEAR LAKE, TXTAL PROGRAM, U.S. FISH & WILDLIFE SERVICE, CLEAR LAKE, TX
Burnet Bay is a sub‐bay of the Galveston Bay system located off of the San Jacinto River adjacent to the Upper Houston Ship Channel. It lies west of the City of Baytown and south of the intersection of Interstate 10 and North Independence Parkway. It is bounded by North Independence Parkway and the Lynchburg Ferry to the west, residential properties to the north and east, and the Baytown Nature Center (formerly the subsided Brownwood Subdivision) to the south. Burnet Bay is directly across the Houston Ship Channel from the San Jacinto State Historical Park.
Contact the Texas Coastal Program for more information regarding available U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service partnerships.Contact the Texas Coastal Program for more information regarding available U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service partnerships. John Huffman, Coastal Program Coordinator,John Huffman, Coastal Program Coordinator,
Scott Williams or Woody Woodrow at (281) 286Scott Williams or Woody Woodrow at (281) 286‐‐8282, Clear Lake Field Office8282, Clear Lake Field Office Beau Hardegree or Tim Anderson at (361) 994Beau Hardegree or Tim Anderson at (361) 994‐‐9005, Corpus Christi Field Office9005, Corpus Christi Field Office
Contact GBF for more information regarding this project and other restoration opportunities around Galveston Bay.Contact GBF for more information regarding this project and other restoration opportunities around Galveston Bay. Bob Stokes, PresidentBob Stokes, President
Philip Smith, Habitat Restoration Coordinator, (281) 332Philip Smith, Habitat Restoration Coordinator, (281) 332‐‐33813381 www.galvbay.orgwww.galvbay.org
Project Partners
The goal of the Burnet Bay Wetlands Restoration Project was to restore intertidal marsh elevations within the heavily subsided segment of Burnet Bay adjacent to North Independence Parkway. Geotechnical analysis of the site revealed that this area consisted of a shallow, hard bottom, making it very conducive to wetlands restoration work. Due to the concern of suspending sediments and potentially exposing legacy pollutants, extensive chemical analysis was conducted within and adjacent to the project area. This project was engineered and designed with the specific intention of avoiding impacts to existing resources within Burnet Bay. Some of the obstacles that had to be “engineered around” included pipelines, utility towers, and significant areas of oyster reef. The project engineer designed the placement and size of the marsh mounds around these obstacles/resources in such as way that neither existing resources nor expected project benefits were compromised. Construction utilized best management practices to reduce water turbidity and lessen localized, short‐term impacts to water quality and nearby organisms, particularly sessile ones. The project was constructed by hydraulically dredging on‐site material from a designated borrow area and creating earthen mounds to raise elevations to levels that would support intertidal marsh vegetation. Earthen berms, constructed by sidecasting in situ material, were also constructed to serve as protection for the mounds. Construction broke ground in June 2009 and was completed during the first week in October 2009.
The Galveston Bay system has lost over 35,000 acres of wetlands during the last fifty years. The wetlands in Galveston Bay provide essential habitat for over 90% of the recreationally and commercially harvested finfish and shellfish caught in the Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Historical aerial images (below) show that Burnet Bay, between the northwestern shoreline and North Independence Parkway, experienced a gradual loss of these marshes (as well as upland areas) between 1944 and 1969. By 1978, nearly all of these vital habitats were lost due to land surface subsidence. Land subsidence is the lowering of the land‐surface elevation from changes that take place underground, by natural processes or human activity. In the greater Houston area, land subsidence is caused by the withdrawal of groundwater. In the project area, subsidence was severe, equaling nearly eight feet between 1906 and 1987. Since the late 1970s, subsidence has been largely abated along the Houston Ship Channel and in the Baytown and Pasadena areas in the coastal lowlands south and east of Houston owing to a reduction in groundwater pumping.
1944 1969
2005
November 2009
September 2009 November 2010 Map By: Harris Galveston Subsidence District
