Shore Damage Mitigation Project Final Decision Document & Final Environmental Assessment Including Finding of No Significant Impact and Section 404(b)(1) Evaluation Saco River and Camp Ellis Beach Saco, Maine Beachfill Stone Spur Jetty Saco River DRAFT September 2017 This Page Intentionally Left Blank Back of Front Cover DRAFT SACO RIVER AND CAMP ELLIS BEACH SACO, MAINE SECTION 111 SHORE DAMAGE MITIGATION PROJECT FINAL DECISION DOCUMENT DRAFT SEPTEMBER 2017 This Page Intentionally Left Blank DRAFT SACO RIVER AND CAMP ELLIS BEACH SHORE DAMAGE MITIGATION PROJECT SACO, MAINE DECISION DOCUMENT TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Study Authority 1 1.2 Purpose and Scope 4 1.3 Study Area 4 1.4 Existing Federal Navigation Project 4 1.4.1 Construction History of the Navigation Project 6 1.4.2 Navigation Uses of the Federal Project 6 1.5 Feasibility Study Process 7 1.6 Environmental Operating Principles 8 1.7 USACE Campaign Plan 9 2.0 PLANNING SETTING AND PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION 10 2.1 General Setting 10 2.2 Topography and Geology 10 2.2.1 Physiography 10 2.2.2 Marine Geology and Geophysics 10 2.3 Soils and Sediments 11 2.3.1 Onshore (Upland) Soils 11 2.3.2 Marine Sediments 12 2.4 Water Resources 12 2.4.1 Saco River 12 2.4.2 Coastal Processes (Erosion History and Coastal Modeling) 13 2.4.3 Marine Water Quality 15 2.5 Biological Resources 15 2.5.1 General 15 2.5.2 Eelgrass DRAFT 15 2.5.3 Benthic Resources 16 2.5.4 Shellfish 16 2.5.5 Fisheries Resources 17 2.5.6 Essential Fish Habitat 18 2.6 Wildlife Resources 18 2.6.1 General Wildlife Species 18 2.6.2 Birds 18 __________________________________________________________________________________________ Saco River and Camp Ellis Beach, Maine i Final Decision Document Shore Damage Mitigation Project September 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Page 2.7 Endangered and Threatened Species 18 2.7.1 Federally Listed or Proposed Endangered or Threatened Species 18 2.7.2 Other Special Status Species 19 2.8 Land Use, Recreation and Public Use Areas 19 2.9 Air Quality 20 2.10 Cultural Resources 20 2.10.1 Pre-Contact (Native American) Archaeology 20 2.10.2 History and Historical Archaeology 21 2.11 Socioeconomics 22 2.12 Expected Future Conditions Without a Project 23 3.0 PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES 27 3.1 Summary of Erosion Problem and Problem Identification 27 3.2 Public Concerns 28 3.3 Problems and Opportunities 28 3.3.1 Problems 28 3.3.2 Opportunities 29 3.4 Planning Objectives 29 3.4.1 Federal Objectives 29 3.4.2 State and Local Objectives 29 3.5 Planning Constraints 30 4.0 PLAN FORMULATION 30 4.1 Measures to Prevent or Mitigate for Shoreline Erosion 30 4.2 Plan Formulation Process 31 4.3 Development of Alternatives 32 4.4 Description of Alternatives and Results of Initial Screening 33 4.5 Results of Initial Screening 50 4.6 Secondary Screening of Preferred Alternatives 50 4.7 Summary of Modeling Results 54 DRAFT 4.8 Alternatives Carried Forward 55 4.9 Beach Fill Volumes for Structural Alternatives 61 4.10 Costs of Final Alternatives 61 4.11 Screening of Final Alternatives 66 4.12 Selection of Recommended Plan 69 __________________________________________________________________________________________ Saco River and Camp Ellis Beach, Maine ii Final Decision Document Shore Damage Mitigation Project September 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page 5.0 RECOMMENDED PLAN 70 5.1 Description of Recommended Plan 70 5.2 Design Considerations 73 5.3 Cost Sharing of Beach Renourishment 74 5.4 Operation, Maintenance, Repair, Replacement and Rehabilitation Requirements 74 5.5 Real Estate Requirements 75 5.6 Summary of Plan Costs, Accomplishments and Benefits 75 5.6.1 Project Costs (Alternative 6) 75 5.6.2 Plan Accomplishments and Benefits 80 5.6.3 Impacts of the Recommended Plan 82 6.0 CONCLUSIONS 85 7.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 86 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (This document has a separate Table of Contents) APPENDICES A Pertinent Correspondence B Coastal Engineering C Data Collection and Modeling Report (Volume 1) D Geotechnical Design E Design and Cost Estimates F Economic Assessment G Real Estate Planning Report H Final Technical Report,DRAFT Remote Sensing Archaeological Survey I Project Construction and Maintenance History J Benthic Data K Essential Fish Habitat Evaluation __________________________________________________________________________________________ Saco River and Camp Ellis Beach, Maine iii Final Decision Document Shore Damage Mitigation Project September 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) LIST OF TABLES Page 1 Alternatives considered in the alternative analysis procedure 34 2 Alternatives Recommended for Further Study based on Initial Screening 50 3 Alternatives Selected for Further Study Based on Wave Energy Reduction 54 4 Final Array of Alternatives 55 5 Beach Fill Volumes and Renourishment Frequency 61 6 Costs Estimates for Alternative Structural Plans 62 7 Cost Estimates for Periodic Renourishment for Alternative Plans 63 8 Annual Costs for Alternative Structural Plans 64 9 Cost Estimates for Buy-Out Plan for Three Sea Level Change Rates 65 10 Comparison of Costs of Final Alternatives for Sea Level Change Rates 66 11 Total Annual Costs – Final Alternatives 69 12 Evaluation Criteria Ranking 70 13 Initial Project Costs for the Recommended Plan 75 14 Beach Renourishment Costs for the Recommended Plan 76 15 Beach Renourishment Costs for Three Sea Level Change Rates 76 16 Total Project Costs – Recommended Plan 77 17 Total Federal Cost – Recommended Plan 80 18 Value of Property Losses Prevented by the Recommended Plan 81 19 Annual Cost of Reduced Emergency Response and Repair 81 20 Cost Apportionment – Recommended Plan 88 DRAFT __________________________________________________________________________________________ Saco River and Camp Ellis Beach, Maine iv Final Decision Document Shore Damage Mitigation Project September 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) LIST OF FIGURES Page 1 Vicinity Map 2 2 Location Map 3 3 Saco River, Maine Federal Navigation Project 5 4 Saco Bay Area 11 5 Damage along Surf Street, Patriot’s Day storm of 2007 24 6 Damage along Surf Street, Patriot’s Day storm of 2007 25 7 Projected Shorelines in 2061 Based on Sea Level Rise Over 50-Years 26 8 Wave Energy Zones 35 9 Wave Height Changes - Alternative 6 - Eastern Wave Approach Scenario 40 10 Wave Height Changes for Alternative 11a for a 10-Year Storm 44 11 Wave Height Changes for Alternative 18 for a 10-Year Return Period Storm 48 12 Expected Shoreline Response - Offshore Breakwater of Alternatives 11A & 18 49 13 Wave Height Changes for Alternative 25 for a 10-Year Return Period Storm 52 14 Wave Height Changes for Alternative 26 for a 10-Year Return Period Storm 52 15 Wave Height Changes for Alternative 25A for a 10-Year Return Period Storm 53 16 Beach Fill Only 58 17 Alternative 6 59 18 Alternative 25A 60 19 Buy-Out Plan – Historic Sea Level Rise 67 20 Spur Jetty Typical Cross Sections 71 21 North Jetty Reinforcement Typical Cross Sections 72 22 Typical Beachfill Cross Section 73 23 Recommended Plan (Plan 6) 84 DRAFT __________________________________________________________________________________________ Saco River and Camp Ellis Beach, Maine v Final Decision Document Shore Damage Mitigation Project September 2017 Acronyms Used in this Document Acronym Meaning CAA Clean Air Act CY Cubic Yards CWA Clean Water Act CZM Coastal Zone Management EA Environmental Assessment EFH Essential Fisheries Habitat ESA Endangered Species Act FCSA Feasibility Cost-Sharing Agreement FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency FONSI Finding of No Significant Impact FY Federal Fiscal Year (1 October to 30 September) HQ USACE Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers LERRD Lands, Easements, Rights-of-Way, Relocations and Dredged Material Placement Areas ME DEP Maine Department of Environmental Protection ME DMR Maine Department of Marine Resources MGS Maine Geological Survey MHW Mean High Water MLLW Mean Lower Low Water MLW Mean Low Water NAD North Atlantic Division, Corps of Engineers NAE New England District, Corps of Engineers NEPA National Environmental Policy Act NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service OMRR&R Operation, Maintenance, Repair, Replacement and Rehabilitation PPA Project Partnership Agreement PPM/PPB/PPT Parts per Million/Billion/Trillion REPR Real Estate Planning Report SBIT Saco Bay Implementation Team (Agency & Stakeholders Group) SLR/SLC Sea Level Rise/Sea Level Change USACE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers USCG U.S. Coast Guard USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture USEPA U.S.DRAFT Environmental Protection Agency USFWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service USGS U.S. Geological Survey (Department of the Interior) WHG Woods Hole Group WIIN Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (Dec 2016) WQC Water Quality Certification WRDA Water Resources Development Act WRRDA Water Resources Reform and Development Act (June 2014) __________________________________________________________________________________________ Saco River and Camp Ellis Beach, Maine vi Final Decision Document Shore Damage Mitigation Project September 2017 SACO RIVER AND CAMP ELLIS BEACH SACO, MAINE SHORE DAMAGE MITIGATION PROJECT FINAL DECISION DOCUMENT 1.0 INTRODUCTION Camp Ellis Beach is located in Saco, Maine, about 16 miles south of Portland, Maine. The beach is situated on the southern portion of the Saco Bay shoreline near the mouth of the Saco River. The river is the boundary between the cities of Saco and Biddeford. The Saco River Federal Navigation Project includes an entrance channel that is 200 feet wide, and a depth of 8 feet at mean lower low water. The channel is protected to the north by a 6,600-foot long jetty and to the south by a 4,800-foot long jetty. Camp Ellis Harbor upstream of the jetties includes three public anchorage areas that are part of the Saco River project and a large public fish pier. The channel continues upriver several miles to downtown Saco and Biddeford.