Cayuga Creek Habitat Restoration Plan Niagara Falls, Niagara County New York
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EN-003292-0001-01-B4005 Cayuga Creek Habitat Restoration Plan Niagara Falls, Niagara County New York March 2014 Prepared for: CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS 305 City Hall 745 Main Street Niagara Falls, New York 14302-0069 Prepared by: ECOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT, INC. 368 Pleasant View Drive Lancaster, New York 14086 ©2014 Ecology and Environment Engineering, P.C. Table of Contents able of Contents T Section Page 1 Introduction .............................................................................. 1-1 Appendix A Jayne Park on Cayuga Island Habitat Restoration Plan ....... A-1 A.1 Site Description ............................................................................................... A-1 A.2 Description of Habitat Restoration and Restoration/Enhancement Objectives ........................................................................................................ A-2 A.2.1 Project Goals ....................................................................................... A-2 A.2.2 Project Objectives ............................................................................... A-2 A.3 Restoration Communities/Features ................................................................. A-3 A.3.1 Invasive Species Management and Riparian Corridor Restoration and Expansion .................................................................. A-3 A.3.2 Emergent Wetland Restoration and Recreational Opportunity Enhancement ....................................................................................... A-3 A.3.3 Emergent Marsh Enhancement and Invasive Species Management ........................................................................................ A-4 A.3.4 Warm-season Grassland/Meadow ....................................................... A-5 A.3.5 Open Woodland Meadow .................................................................... A-7 A.4 Site Location ................................................................................................... A-8 A.5 Anticipated Timeline for Restoration Project ................................................. A-8 A.6 Estimated Implementation Schedule ............................................................... A-8 A.7 Long-Term Maintenance ................................................................................. A-9 A.8 Cost Estimate ................................................................................................. A-10 A.9 Performance Standards and Monitoring Parameters ..................................... A-10 A.10 Ownership and Need for Permits .................................................................. A-11 B Griffon Park Habitat Restoration Plan ................................... B-1 B.1 Site Description ................................................................................................B-1 B.2 Description of Habitat Restoration and Restoration/Enhancement Objectives .........................................................................................................B-1 B.2.1 Project Goals ........................................................................................B-2 B.2.2 Project Objectives ................................................................................B-2 B.3 Restoration Communities/Features ..................................................................B-2 B.3.1 Invasive Species Management and Riparian Corridor Restoration ...........................................................................................B-2 02:EN-003292-0001-01-B4005 iii R_Cayuga Creek Habitat Restoration Plan 031814.docx-03/18/14 Table of Contents (cont.) Section Page B.3.2 Emergent Wetland Restoration ............................................................B-3 B.3.3 Warm-season Grassland/Meadow ........................................................B-3 B.3.4 River Bank Bioengineering/Bank Softening ........................................B-4 B.4 Site Map and Location .....................................................................................B-5 B.5 Anticipated Timeline for Restoration Project ..................................................B-5 B.6 Estimated Implementation Schedule ................................................................B-5 B.7 Long-Term Maintenance ..................................................................................B-6 B.8 Cost Estimate ....................................................................................................B-7 B.9 Performance Standards and Monitoring Parameters ........................................B-7 B.10 Ownership and Need for Permits .....................................................................B-8 02:EN-003292-0001-01-B4005 iv R_Cayuga Creek Habitat Restoration Plan 031814.docx-03/18/14 List of Tables ist of Tables L Table Page A-1 Jayne Park Restoration Plant List, Jayne Park, Niagara Falls, Niagara County New York ................................................................................................................ A-13 A-2 Prescribed Seed Mixes for the Various Planned Restoration Communities in Jayne Park, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York ......................................... A-16 A-3 Jayne Park Restoration, Cayuga Creek Restoration - Summary ............................. A-17 B-1 Griffon Park Restoration Plant List, Griffon Park, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York ...................................................................................................B-10 B-2 Prescribed Seed Mixes for the Various Planned Restoration Communities in Griffon Park, Niagara Falls, Niagara County, New York........................................B-13 B-3 Griffon Park Restoration, Cayuga Creek Restoration - Summary ...........................B-14 02:EN-003292-0001-01-B4005 v R_Cayuga Creek Habitat Restoration Plan 031814.docx-03/18/14 List of Figures ist of Figures L Figure Page A-1 Cayuga Island/Jayne Park Site ................................................................................ A-19 A-2 Planned Restoration Communities/Cayuga Island/Jayne Park Site ........................ A-21 A-3 Emergent Wetland Enhancement and River Viewing Access Jayne Park ............. A-23 B-1 Cayuga Island/Griffon Park Site ..............................................................................B-17 B-2 Planned Restoration Communities/Features for the Cayuga Island and Griffon Park Site ...................................................................................................................B-19 B-3 River Bank Bioengineering/Bank Softening Griffon Park ......................................B-21 02:EN-003292-0001-01-B4005 vii R_Cayuga Creek Habitat Restoration Plan 031814.docx-03/18/14 1 Introduction A screening process was conducted in the fall of 2013 across seven previously selected sites within or near the Cayuga Creek watershed to identify one or more sites that would be suitable candidates for the use of construction funds provided by the Cooperative Agreement between the City of Niagara Falls and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The seven sites included: • North Site; • City Site; • Lower Reach Site; • Wheatfield Site; • Jayne Park on Cayuga Island; • 102nd Street Landfill (including Griffon Park); and • Weber Property. Appendix A and Appendix B provide habitat restoration site plans for two sites for potential inclusion in the Cayuga Creek Habitat Restoration Plan. Whether both plans (sites) will be used for construction will be determined by a number of factors, including overall construction budgets for each site compared to the available funds of $198,000, as provided by the Cooperative Agreement between the City of Niagara Falls and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Site visits were completed and preliminary habitat restoration concepts were developed for each site. The sites were subsequently evaluated for the following: • Accessibility to potential work areas; • Ownership (public versus private); • Existing physical and biological conditions; • Potential for functional uplift of ecological services; • Complexity of design; and • Constructability. 02:EN-003292-0001-01-B4005 1-1 R_Cayuga Creek Habitat Restoration Plan 031814.docx-03/18/14 1 Introduction The details of the site examination and recommendation process are described in the Habitat Restoration Opportunities for the Sites Selected for Consideration in the Lower Cayuga Creek Watershed document that was provided to the City of Niagara Falls and the USFWS, and, therefore, will not be repeated here. The following attachments present habitat restoration plans for Jayne Park on Cayuga Island and Griffon Park, both of which are located in the city of Niagara Falls. The habitat restoration plans for these sites provide the conceptual framework for restoration projects identified in the Cooperative Agreement, and, as such, include information on the following: • Description and restoration objectives of project(s); • Maps of project(s); • Timeline for completion of project(s); • Description of how project(s) will be implemented (e.g., project specifications and contractors to be used); • Cost of project(s); • Performance standards and monitoring parameters of project(s); • Description of how long-term maintenance and protection of restoration projects will be achieved; and • Information on ownership of project area(s) and need for permits. The Jayne Park on Cayuga Island Habitat Restoration Plan is included in Appendix A. The Griffon Park Habitat Restoration Plan is included