Inventory of Habitat Modifications to Tidal Inlets in the US Atlantic Coast

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Inventory of Habitat Modifications to Tidal Inlets in the U.S. Atlantic Coast Breeding Range of the Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) as of 2015: Maine to North Carolina1

Tracy Monegan Rice Terwilliger Consulting, Inc. October 2016

Inlets are a highly valuable habitat for piping plovers (Charadrius melodus), red knots, other shorebirds, and waterbirds for foraging, loafing, and roosting (Harrington 2008, Lott et al. 2009, Maddock et al. 2009). The North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC) has designated the piping plover as a representative species in all three subregions, standing as a surrogate for other species using dynamic beach systems including American oystercatchers, least terns, black skimmers, seabeach amaranth and migrating shorebirds (http://www.fws.gov/northeast/science/pdf/nalcc_terrestrial_rep_species_table.pdf). Recovery Task 1.2 of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Recovery Plan for the piping plover prioritizes the maintenance of “natural coastal formation processes that perpetuate high quality breeding habitat,” specifically discouraging the “construction of structures or other developments that will destroy or degrade plover habitat” (Task 1.21), and the “interference with natural processes of inlet formation, migration, and closure” (Task 1.22) (USFWS 1996, pp. 65-66). A series of assessments recently filled the data need to identify such habitat modifications that have altered natural coastal processes and the resulting abundance, distribution, and condition of existing habitat in the United States (U.S.) Atlantic Coast breeding range prior to Hurricane Sandy and immediately after Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. The U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover stretches from Maine (ME) to North Carolina (NC).

Six recent reports provided these data for the U.S. continental migration and overwintering range of the piping plover (Rice 2012a, 2012b), the northern portion of the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range (Rice 2015a, 2015b) and the southern portion of the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range (Rice 2014, 2015c) prior to Hurricane Sandy. A summary report synthesized the results of these six reports to characterize tidal inlet and sandy beach habitats from ME to NC before Hurricane Sandy (Rice 2015d). Another report assessed the storm-induced habitat modifications to tidal inlets and sandy beaches from ME to NC resulting from Hurricane Sandy (Rice 2015e). Altogether this information can provide an assessment of the cumulative impacts of habitat modifications at tidal inlets for piping plovers and other birds, including the recently listed rufa red knot (Calidris canutus rufa). These assessments do not, however, include habitat disturbances at tidal inlets such as off-road vehicle (ORV) usage, pet and human disturbance, or disturbance to dunes or vegetation on inlet shoulders.

All of these previous reports, inventory data and Google Earth data layers are available online at the Beach and Tidal Inlet Habitat Inventories Project page of the North Atlantic LCC website at

1 Suggested citation: Rice, T.M. 2016. Inventory of Habitat Modifications to Tidal Inlets in the U.S. Atlantic Coast Breeding Range of the Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) as of 2015: Maine to North Carolina. Report submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hadley, Massachusetts. 94 p.

1 www.northatlanticlcc.org. The Google Earth data layers are also available in shapefile format in the Inventory of Habitat Modifications to Tidal Inlets and Sandy Beach Habitat Gallery at Data Basin, at www.databasin.org. Phase 1 of the project contains reports, data and map layers for tidal inlet and sandy beach habitats prior to Hurricane Sandy. Phase 2 of the project contains reports, data and map layers for tidal inlet and sandy beach habitat immediately following Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.

This report updates the habitat inventory for tidal inlets three years after Hurricane Sandy, characterizing the habitat and its modifications for the entire U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover, from ME to NC, as of 2015. A separate report will update the data for sandy beach habitat in the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range as of 2015. This third set of reports, data and map layers assessing the two habitat types three years after Hurricane Sandy (Phase 3) will be posted on the North Atlantic LCC and Data Basin websites as they become available.

METHODS

This assessment updates the tidal inlet inventories for the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range that characterized the habitat abundance, distribution and condition prior to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, as described in Rice (2012a), Rice (2014) and Rice (2015a). Tidal inlets that were opened or closed by Hurricane Sandy are described in Rice (2015e). For a description of the inventory methods used to assess tidal inlets in ME, New Hampshire (NH), Massachusetts (MA), Rhode Island (RI), Connecticut (CT), and along the Long Island Sound and Peconic Estuary shorelines of New York (NY), see pages 2 to 9 of Rice (2015a). For a description of the inventory methods used to assess tidal inlets along Atlantic Ocean shoreline of NY, New Jersey (NJ), Delaware (DE), Maryland (MD) and Virginia (VA), see pages 2 to 5 of Rice (2014). For a description of the inventory methods used to assess tidal inlets in North Carolina, see pages 1 to 6 of Rice (2012a). For a description of the inventory methods used to assess changes to tidal inlets resulting from Hurricane Sandy, see pages 7 to 9 of Rice (2015e).

The location of tidal inlets that were open between 2012 and 2015 were identified using the same methodology described in Rice (2014), Rice (2015a) and Rice (2015e). Inventory results for tidal inlets include the number and location of tidal inlets open in each state three years after Hurricane Sandy in 2015, and the numbers of tidal inlets that had been modified by armoring with hard shoreline stabilization structures, dredging and sediment mining. The numbers and locations of known historical inlets and those that had been artificially opened, closed or relocated are also included.

A description of the different types of stabilization structures typically constructed at or adjacent to inlets – jetties, terminal groins, groins, seawalls, breakwaters and revetments – can be found in Rice (2009) as well in the Manual for Coastal Hazard Mitigation (Herrington 2003, online at http://www.state.nj.us/dep/cmp/coastal_hazard_manual.pdf), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Coastal Engineering Manual (USACE 2002), and in Living by the Rules of the Sea (Bush et al. 1996).

A number of imagery sources were assessed for the presence of new inlets and to identify inlets that had closed between 2012 and 2015:  Google Earth aerial imagery from 2012, 2013, 2014, and/or 2015; in some limited areas imagery from March or April 2016 was also available (www.earth.google.com)  Google Maps satellite view imagery (www.google.com/maps)  U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) aerial imagery taken in spring 2014 and spring 2015 for the Eastern Shore of Virginia (https://gdg.sc.egov.usda.gov/)  U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hurricane Joaquin aerial photography taken in October 2015 and available on iCoast for NY to NC (http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/icoast/index.php)

While the 2012-2015 assessment period does not include any named hurricanes that made landfall within the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover, two storms of note did affect the study area. Hurricane Joaquin indirectly impacted the U.S. East Coast during the first week of October 2015; the hurricane passed well offshore (after impacting the Bahamas), generating coastal flooding, high winds and heavy rainfall along portions of the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover, particularly the southern portion from NY to NC (Berg 2016). A severe winter storm also affected the East Coast between January 22-24, 2016, a blizzard unofficially named Winter Storm Jonas. Although this extreme snowstorm occurred three months after the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, it generated significant coastal flooding in Delaware and New Jersey, including record high tide levels at Cape May, NJ, breaking the previous record set by Hurricane Sandy (Fritz 2016). High winds and beach erosion were experienced throughout most of the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover. Where October 2015 and March or April 2016 imagery were available and utilized in this assessment, the coastal impacts from Hurricane Joaquin and the blizzard of January 2016 were included in this updated habitat assessment (see Appendix A for a full list of imagery dates available for each state).

This assessment update was compiled by combining the Microsoft Excel tidal inlet database of Rice (2012a), Rice (2014), Rice (2015a) and Rice (2015e) into one database, which was then updated to incorporate new inlet and habitat modification data through 2015. The centralized Microsoft Excel database contains the following data fields for each inlet: inlet name, state, north / east land ownership, south / west land ownership, county where the inlet occurs, type of hard structure, location of the structure, structure ownership, date built, dredging (yes or no), dredging maintenance agency, location(s) of dredged material disposal, sand bypassing (yes or no), shoal mining (yes or no), mining sponsor, date mined, fill location, other miscellaneous but relevant details, and data sources. Data on each inlet were confirmed with information from multiple sources wherever possible and the sources for each inlet’s data recorded.

A separate consolidated Microsoft Excel database was created to catalog the number and location of inlets that have opened or closed either naturally or artificially since the 1800s for each state from ME to NC. Relocated inlets are those in which the inlet has been physically moved to a new location – typically hundreds to thousands of feet away – and the old inlet closed with sediment or other materials and the new inlet excavated through land. An inlet generally is relocated as an erosion control measure to protect property or infrastructure from loss due to inlet migration. An inlet that was moved to a new location but where the old inlet was allowed to

3 remain open was categorized as artificially created and not as a relocated inlet. If the old inlet subsequently closed naturally, that inlet was categorized as naturally closed. Inlets that have opened or closed due to natural processes include those that were created during storm events or filled in and closed by natural sediment transport processes. Artificially created inlets include those cut through barrier islands or spits where previously no channel existed; these have been created predominantly for navigational purposes but less frequently for water quality or fish passage purposes.

Inlets that have been artificially closed tend to be those opened during a storm event (e.g., The Great New England Hurricane of 1938, Hurricane Sandy) in a location where property owners, governing agencies or politicians consider them undesirable; closure of these new inlets is oftentimes considered a storm recovery endeavor, particularly where it is necessary to restore a road that has been severed by the new inlet. Artificially closed inlets provide a different mosaic of habitats than those that have closed naturally. Naturally closed inlets tend to be low in elevation, to have no or sparse vegetation initially, and are wide, especially if the tidal deltas or shoals have welded to the island. Artificially closed inlets, on the other hand, have higher elevations, tend to have a substantial constructed berm and dune system tying in to the adjacent beach and dune systems, and are often manually planted with dune grasses and/or other vegetation to stabilize the area. The materials used to fill the inlet and construct the berm and dune ridge typically are mined nearby, often disturbing the local sediment supply and transport system. The overwash occurring periodically at a naturally closed inlet is prevented at an artificially closed inlet by the constructed dune ridge, or in some cases by additional hard structures or sandbags.

Shoal mining is defined as a project that intentionally mines sediment from a tidal shoal or channel within an inlet complex, typically for nourishment of nearby beaches. These projects tend to target ebb shoals, are located outside of any authorized and/or maintained navigational channels, and generally require new permits or environmental review. Dredging activities that have occurred within authorized and/or maintained navigational channels with the dredged materials placed on nearby beaches to address erosion are not considered mining projects within this assessment. Such types of projects may be considered by the USACE as “beneficial use of dredged material” or as Section 933 projects under the Water Resources Development Act (as amended) but do not create new areas of disturbance to the seafloor as a true mining project does. In Rhode Island some flood tidal shoals have been intentionally dredged for habitat restoration projects, with the dredged material beneficially placed on nearby beaches; these projects were not considered mining projects since their primary purpose is habitat restoration of shallow water habitats and not the mining of beach fill material. Both dredging of channels and shoal mining create similar geological and ecological impacts, however, in that they disrupt the sediment transport system within and around inlets, creating sediment sinks within the inlet which can lead to increased erosion rates of adjacent shorelines and shoals.

The data in both databases (those open in 2015 and those that have historically opened and closed both artificially and naturally) were then compiled, sorted and analyzed using common assessment techniques (e.g., the proportion of inlets modified in a particular way within individual states and the range) to identify trends and patterns. Numerous USFWS and state

4 agency staff members within the range reviewed a draft of this assessment in order to verify and correct details, where necessary.

RESULTS

This assessment identifies and discusses the changes to tidal inlet habitat in the three years after Hurricane Sandy, covering late 2012 through 2015. The results discussed below focus on tidal inlet habitat changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015, the status of tidal inlet habitat as of 2015, and proposed and anticipated habitat changes beyond 2015. The entire U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range from Maine to North Carolina is included in this 2015 assessment. This habitat inventory and assessment updates and supersedes the pre-Hurricane Sandy assessments for tidal inlets (Rice 2012a, 2014, and 2015a) and the assessment of habitat changes caused by Hurricane Sandy (Rice 2015e). Information on historical inlets is not reproduced here and can be referenced in Rice (2012a, 2014 and 2015a). A series of tables listing each inlet open in 2015 for each state, along with the habitat modifications at each inlet, can be found in Appendix B at the end of this document.

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Of the 33 inlets or breaches opened by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, at least 5 were closed artificially. Another 17 had closed naturally and an 18th was in the process of closing in 2015. Only 9 of the 33 inlets or breaches opened by Hurricane Sandy were open in 2015, three years later. Of the 4 inlets closed by Hurricane Sandy, 3 were still closed in 2015 but one had reopened naturally in a new position.

At least 33 other inlets or breaches opened between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 in the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover, 23 of the inlets opening naturally and 10 artificially opened2 (Table 1). Eleven (11) of these new inlets were in MA, 7 in VA, and 4 each in NC and the Peconic Estuary of NY. Another 6 inlets were newly identified in MA with the availability of new and/or higher resolution imagery. Of the 52 inlets or breaches that closed between 2012 and 2015, 47 closed naturally and 5 were closed artificially.

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 The post-Sandy changes described above bring the total number of open tidal inlets in 2015 in the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover to 412 (Table 2). This compares with 399 that were known to exist in 2012 (Rice 2015d) and 428 immediately after Sandy in November 2012 (Rice 2015e). The proportion of inlets that have been modified remains roughly the same, with 68% of the 412 inlets open in 2015 having been modified versus 69% in 2012. The proportion of tidal inlets stabilized with hard structures continues to be the greatest form of modification, with 242 of the 412 inlets (59%) modified by structures. Dredging remains the second most significant form of habitat modification, with 182 of 412 inlets (44%) modified by dredging; 146 of the 182 inlets (80%) modified by dredging are also stabilized with structures.

2 This total of 10 inlets that were opened artificially between 2012 and 2015 does not include the periodic pond letting, or artificial breaching, of up to 13 coastal ponds in MA, RI and NY. Numerous coastal ponds are artificially breached on an annual basis; see Rice (2015a) and Rice (2014) for a complete list.

Table 1. The status of tidal inlets in each state, the Long Island Sound (LIS) shoreline of New York north and east of Plum Point, and the Peconic Estuary shoreline of Long Island, New York, in 2012, immediately after Hurricane Sandy, between Hurricane Sandy and 2015, and in 2015. The number of inlets that opened and closed (columns 5 and 6) include both natural and artificial openings and closures.

Number Inlets Inlets Inlets closed Number of Inlets Closed of Inlets Opened in opened since since Inlets State in Hurricane Open in Hurricane Hurricane Hurricane Open in Sandy 2012 Sandy Sandy Sandy 2015 ME 21 0 0 1 5 17 NH 3 0 0 0 0 3 MA 128† 0 0 11 6 133 RI 17 1 0 0 2 16 CT 56 1 2 3 1‡ 54 NY – 28 0 0 1 0 29 LIS NY - 96 11 1 4 10 100 Peconic NY - Atlantic 9 6 0 0 5 10 NJ 11 7 0 2 9 11 DE 1 0 0 0 0 1 MD 1 0 0 0 0 1 VA 14 5 1 7 8 17 NC 20 2 0 4 6 20 TOTAL 405 33 4 33 52 412 † This total includes 6 inlets that were newly identified with improved imagery sources; these inlets were open prior to Hurricane Sandy but not identified in Rice (2015a). ‡ An additional 3 inlets were lost when the surrounding lands on which they were located eroded or submerged.

At least 45 of the 412 (11%) inlets were artificially created or opened, 9 (2%) have been relocated, and at least 29 (7%) mined for sediment.

Three states have had 100% of their tidal inlets modified, but those states are the three states with the fewest number of inlets: New Hampshire, Delaware and Maryland (Table 2). Only one state – Virginia – has had fewer than half of its inlets modified in at least one manner. The other states range from 53% (ME) to 91% (NJ) of their inlets modified. In sum, over two-thirds (68%) of all the sandy inlets within the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover have been modified in one way or another.

Of the 242 inlets with at least one hard structure, 117 (49%) have one or two jetties, 77 (32%) have terminal or other groin structures, 147 (61%) have revetments (sandbag or rock), seawalls

Table 2. The number of open tidal inlets, inlet modifications, and artificially closed inlets in each state, the LIS shoreline of New York north and east of Plum Point, and the Peconic Estuary shoreline of Long Island, New York, in 2015. Inlets Open in 2015 Total Habitat Modification Type Number Artificially State Number of Artificially closed of Inlets structures† dredged relocated mined Modified opened Inlets ME 17 9 8 6 0 1 1 0 NH 3 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 MA 133 86 79 52 2 2 17a 8 RI 16 9 6 8 0 0 7b 2c CT 54 45 44 12 0 0 1 7 NY – LIS 29 22 20 14 1 2 1 0 NY - 100 69 56d 49 1 0 8e 0 Peconic NY - 10 9 6 9 0 4 4f 6 Atlantic NJ 11 10g 9 10g 1 7g 1 8 DE 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 MD 1 1 1 1 0 1 0h 3 VA 17 2 1 2 0 1 0 1 NC 20 16 8i 16 5 10 4i 13 282 242 182 9 29 45k TOTAL 412 (68%) (59%) (44%) (2%) (7%) (11%) 48 † Structures include jetties, terminal groins, groin fields, rock or sandbag revetments, seawalls, and offshore breakwaters. a – Seventeen of the 28 inlets that have been artificially created in Massachusetts were open in 2015. b – Rhode Island’s coastal ponds have a long history of being artificially breached stretching back to Colonial times (Lee 1980). Some ponds were and/or continue to be breached annually or multiple times annually. Records are incomplete on how many of the ponds have been artificially breached or re-opened following closure during storms, making this number a minimum number. An additional 3 inlets that are confirmed to have been opened artificially in the past were closed in 2015. c – A number of inlets that opened during hurricanes in Rhode Island have historically been artificially closed, but documentation could only be found for two. d – A jetty has been proposed for one currently unmodified inlet on the Peconic Estuary shoreline of NY. e - A ninth inlet that was closed in 2015 was proposed to be artificially reopened and its existing hard shoreline stabilization structures rehabilitated and/or replaced. If this project is constructed, the number of inlets on the Peconic Estuary shoreline will increase to 101, with 70 of them modified, 50 dredged and 9 artificially opened. f – A fifth inlet on the Atlantic coast of New York has historically been artificially opened but was not open in 2015. g - The only unmodified inlet in NJ was Little Egg Inlet. Dredging of the inlet has been proposed both for beach nourishment (as a sand source) and for navigation; these proposals are undergoing regulatory review in 2016. h – An inlet near Ocean City, MD, was artificially opened prior to World War I but closed naturally and is no longer open. i - Terminal groins have been proposed for 3 inlets in NC, none of which has a hard shoreline stabilization structure already present. If all 3 terminal groins are constructed as proposed in 2016-17, the number of inlets modified by hard structures in NC will be 11. j – A fifth inlet in NC has historically been artificially opened but the inlet was not open in 2015. k – The total number of inlets that have been artificially opened that were open in 2015. At least 19 additional inlets have been artificially opened historically.

7 and/or bulkheads, and 16 (7%) has offshore breakwaters (NOTE: the numbers total more than 242 because many inlets have more than one type of structure). Virginia (6%) has the lowest proportion of inlets stabilized with hard structures while New Hampshire, Maryland and Delaware all have the highest proportions of structural stabilization at their inlets with 100% each (Table 2). Rhode Island (38%), North Carolina (40%), and Maine (47%) are the only states besides Virginia where fewer than half of their inlets are modified with hard shoreline stabilization structures.

At least a separate 48 inlets are known to have been artificially closed (Table 2). Eight (8) inlets have been artificially closed in Massachusetts and New Jersey. In Connecticut, 7 inlets have been artificially closed. Along the South Shore of Long Island, at least 6 inlets have been artificially closed. Three (3) inlets in Maryland, 2 in Rhode Island and 1 inlet in Virginia have been artificially closed. At least 13 inlets or breaches have been closed artificially in North Carolina, more than any other state. No tidal inlets are known to have been artificially closed in Maine, New Hampshire, Delaware, or along the Long Island Sound or Peconic Estuary shorelines of New York. Inlets have been artificially closed in Rhode Island, but precise numbers and locations are not available.

Proposed Habitat Modifications One closed inlet to a private boat basin on the Peconic Estuary shoreline of New York has been proposed to be artificially opened, and one additional inlet in New Jersey has been proposed to be mined for beach fill and/or dredged for navigation. Four additional inlets have had hard shoreline stabilization structures proposed, one along the Peconic Estuary shoreline of New York and three in North Carolina. A box jetty has been proposed at a currently unstabilized inlet on the Peconic Estuary of NY, and if constructed would increase the number of inlets with structures to 57 in the Peconic Estuary. If the three proposed terminal groins are constructed in NC, North Carolina’s proportion of inlets modified by hard structures would increase to 55% since all 3 inlets are not stabilized currently.

State-specific Results

Maine

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Hurricane Sandy did not open or close any tidal inlets in Maine south of Georgetown (Rice 2015e). Between Hurricane Sandy and 2015, five inlets that were open in 2012 closed (Table 1). An inlet that previously separated Fox Island from the mainland closed when a tombolo, or bridge of sand, formed and reconnected the island with the mainland in 2013. The former inlet opening at the mouth of the Morse River, Old Morse River Inlet, naturally closed in 2013-14. A small unnamed inlet at Crescent Beach State Park (SP) closed in late 2014 or early 2015. The fourth inlet that closed was a small, unnamed inlet at Cape Elizabeth that closed in 2013. A fifth inlet, Goosefare Brook, also closed in 2013. All five inlets closed naturally.

One inlet in Maine has been artificially opened in the three years since Hurricane Sandy. In early October 2013, a sandbar that had partially or completely closed the inlet at Goosefare

Brook in Old Orchard Beach was artificially breached (Gotthelf 2013; Kate O’Brien, USFWS, pers. communication, January 15, 2016).

In the three years following Hurricane Sandy, at least 3 inlets were dredged: ~114,300 cubic yards (cy) of sediment were dredged from the Scarborough River inlet in 2014-15 and placed on Western Beach; ~22,000 cy of sediment were dredged from the inlet at Kennebunk River in 2013-14 and placed in a nearshore disposal site off Gooch’s Beach; and ~130,000 cy of sediment were dredged from the navigation channel at Wells Harbor in late 2013 and placed on both Wells Beach and Drakes Island Beach (USACE 2013b, USACE New England District website).

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 In 2015, three years after Hurricane Sandy, the number of tidal inlets open along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline of Maine south of Georgetown was 17 (Table 2 and Table B-1 in Appendix B). Nine (9) of the 17 tidal inlets (53%) open in 2015 in southern Maine had been modified by anthropogenic activities. Prior to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, there were 21 tidal inlets open in Maine, 9 (43%) of which had been modified in at least one manner (Rice 2015a). Of the 9 sandy tidal inlets in Maine that have been modified as of 2015, 8 have been stabilized with hard structures along at least one shoulder (Table B-Table B-1). Of the inlets with hard structures, 4 have jetties (1 with a single jetty and 3 with dual jetties) and 5 have revetments, seawalls and/or bulkheads [note that an individual inlet may have multiple types of structures; e.g., in Maine 1 inlet has both jetties and revetments]. Six (35%) inlets have been or continue to be periodically dredged for navigation or erosion control purposes to redirect channels away from buildings or infrastructure. No inlets are documented to have been relocated along Maine’s southern coast. The shoal complexes of at least 1 inlet has been mined to supply sediment for a dune / beach nourishment project at Ogunquit Beach -- Ogunquit River Inlet in 1974 (FitzGerald et al. 1989).

Only one inlet in Maine has been artificially opened, the aforementioned Goosefare Brook in 2013. No inlets or breaches have been closed artificially in Maine, although the natural closure of Little River Inlet was partially caused by the damming of the inlet’s drainage basin with the construction of a railroad embankment in 1875 (FitzGerald et al. 1989, Kelley et al. 1989, EPA 1995). Rice (2015a) described historical inlets that have been open along Maine’s southern coast, as well as documented impacts resulting from modifications to certain inlets.

Proposed and Anticipated Habitat Modifications In spring 2016 the USACE proposed maintenance dredging of the Saco River inlet channel, with an estimated 150,000 cy of sediment to be placed either on nearby Camp Ellis Beach or in the nearshore off Camp Ellis Beach (depending on the type of dredging equipment used in the project); dredging was anticipated to be scheduled between November 2016 and March 2017 (USACE 2016d).

A recent study forecasting the impacts of a 3-foot static sea level rise at and near Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) identified several potential locations for breaches or new inlets in southern Maine – 3 on Drakes Island and 2 at Wells Beach; the study also predicts a new area of ponding near the southern jetty at Wells Inlet with both a 2- or 3-foot static rise in sea level, which could provide moist soil substrate for foraging shorebirds (Slovinsky and Dickson 2006).

Another recent study predicting the impacts of sea level rise in Maine found that the southern end of Pine Point would be breached (near the former Little River Inlet site) by a 1.0 meter (m) rise in sea level (EPA 1995). So although historically Maine’s tidal inlets have been stable, rising sea level and climate change could open several new inlets along the state’s southern coast.

New Hampshire

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Hurricane Sandy did not open or close any tidal inlets in New Hampshire (Rice 2015e). No new tidal inlets opened and no existing tidal inlets closed in NH since Hurricane Sandy.

In the three years following Hurricane Sandy, one inlet was dredged in New Hampshire: 167,947 cy of sediment were dredged from Hampton River Inlet and Harbor from November 2012 to February 2013 and placed on Seabrook Beach and Hampton Beach SP (Rineman 2013, Pease Development Authority 2014).

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 In 2015, three years after Hurricane Sandy, the number of tidal inlets open along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline of New Hampshire remained the same at 3 (Table 2 and Table B-2 in Appendix B). Of the 3 tidal inlets open in 2015, all 3 (100%) remained modified by anthropogenic activities.

All 3 (100%) of New Hampshire’s tidal inlets have been stabilized with hard structures along at least one shoulder (Table 3). Of the inlets with hard structures, 1 has dual jetties, 1 has dual breakwaters and all 3 have revetments, seawalls and/or bulkheads. [Note that the structures at Rye Harbor are considered breakwaters by the USACE, although they could also be considered jetties.] Two inlets (67%) have been or continue to be periodically dredged for navigation or erosion control purposes to redirect channels away from buildings or infrastructure. No inlets have been relocated, with artificial closures of existing inlets and openings of new inlets nearby. No inlets have been cut artificially in new locations. No inlets have been mined to supply sediment for beach nourishment projects. No inlets or breaches are known to have ever been closed artificially in New Hampshire. Rice (2015a) described historical inlets that have been open along New Hampshire’s coast, as well as documented impacts resulting from modifications to certain inlets.

Proposed and Anticipated Habitat Modifications The north jetty at Hampton River Inlet is scheduled for repairs of Hurricane Sandy damages in 2016.

Massachusetts

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Hurricane Sandy did not open or close any tidal inlets in Massachusetts (Rice 2015e). Eleven (11) new inlets opened in Massachusetts between October 2012 and the end of 2015, 6 inlets closed, and 6 inlets were newly identified (Table 1). The six inlets that were not identified in the

2012 inlets inventory (Rice 2015a) were two located on Thompson Island and one on Peddock Island in Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area (NRA), one on Naushon Island near Westend Pond, one near Agawam Point in Bourne, and Moses Smith Creek in Dartmouth, which was erroneously omitted from Rice (2015a).

The 4 inlets that were open in 2012 but closed in 2015 were Richmond Pond inlet in Westport, James Pond Inlet on Martha’s Vineyard, Katama Bay inlet on Martha’s Vineyard, and the unnamed inlet at Eel Point on Nantucket. The inlet to Katama Bay on Martha’s Vineyard closed naturally in April 2015, reopened for 3 weeks in October 2015 and again for 2 days in January 2016 (Brown 2015a, 2015b, 2016; Dunlop 2015). The inlet remains closed, with no plans to reopen it artificially. The other two inlets to close between 2012 and 2015 were on Martha’s Vineyard and Nashawena Island. The north inlet to Segekontacket Pond on Martha’s Vineyard also closed naturally in late 2014 or early 2015, but was artificially reopened in June 2015 (USACE 2013d, Hull 2015). An inlet on a spit on the northwest side of Nashawena Island opened briefly in 2014-15 but closed naturally.

Of the 11 new inlets that opened in the three years after Hurricane Sandy, 6 opened naturally and 5 were opened artificially. Three of the naturally opened inlets are located at Cape Cod National Seashore (NS) or Monomoy NWR. Chatham Inlet reopened in 2013 near its historical location. A second unnamed inlet opened on the north side of the new Chatham Inlet in 2014. And Powder Hole Inlet reopened in 2013-14. The other three inlets that opened naturally include Quicks Hole Pond inlet on Nashawena Island, an unnamed inlet on Nashawena Island that opened briefly and then closed, and an unnamed inlet to an unnamed pond west of Salter’s Point in Dartmouth.

Five (5) inlets out of the 133 inlets open in 2015 were opened artificially in the three years since Hurricane Sandy. An inlet at Stewart’s Creek in Barnstable was artificially opened as part of the federal and state Stewart’s Creek Estuary Restoration Project. A new inlet was artificially opened to Westend Pond on Cuttyhunk Island in 2014, roughly 1,000 ft (305 m) west of the location where an inlet had been cut artificially in 2011. A third inlet was opened artificially in Nonquitt just south of Barekneed Rocks in 2013-14. The fourth inlet that was open in 2015 imagery that was artificially opened was to Tisbury Pond on Martha’s Vineyard, which is an inlet that is regularly cut open (Rice 2015a). North Inlet at Sengekontacket Pond on Martha’s Vineyard was artificially reopened in 2015 after shoaling closed the inlet naturally (USACE 2013d, Hull 2015). In addition, Allens Pond Inlet in Westport appears to have been artificially cut, relocating the inlet to the west as it has been in the past; confirmation of the new inlet cut was not available, however.

In the three years following Hurricane Sandy, several inlets were dredged by the USACE: Cohasset Harbor/Inlet, Chatham (Stage) Harbor inlet, Lewis Bay / Hyannis Harbor, Falmouth Inner Harbor inlet, Cuttyhunk Harbor, Nantucket Harbor, and Menemsha Creek on Martha’s Vineyard3 (USACE 2013c, 2014m, 2014a, 2016a, 2016b). The ~60,000 cy of sediment dredged

3 Dredging of Menemsha Creek was proposed in 2014 but construction was delayed until December 2015. The project was not completed before seasonal restrictions halted work in February 2016. The project (which has been the subject of some controversy) is anticipated to be continued in October 2016, with continued placement of the dredged material at Lobsterville Beach to the south (Elvin 2016a-d).

11 from Cohasset Harbor and inlet was placed on the intertidal zone of Sandy Beach, a pocket beach to the north; previous dredging had deposited the material in an offshore disposal site (USACE 2014a). In 2015-16 the USACE also performed maintenance dredging of the Cape Cod Canal and placed the dredged material on Town Neck Beach in Sandwich, a new disposal site for material dredged from this canal/inlet (USACE 2015b).

Barnstable County owns and operates its own dredge, which has been used to dredge at least 21 inlets in the county. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2013, Barnstable County dredged 13 inlet systems: Doanes Creek/Allen Harbor, Mill Creek, Popponesset Bay, Cotuit Bay, Falmouth Inner Harbor, Herring River (Harwich), Eel River, Pamet River, Bass River, Parkers River, and Sesuit Harbor (Barnstable County 2013). In FY2014, Barnstable County dredged 10 inlet systems included in this inventory (Barnstable County 2014).

Since Hurricane Sandy, the Town of Edgartown and/or the Great Pond Foundation artificially opened an inlet to Edgartown Great Pond on Martha’s Vineyard in December 2012, March 2013, July 2013, March 2014 and spring 2015 (Great Pond Foundation 2013, 2014, 2015). This inlet typically only remains open for a short period of time before closing naturally (Rice 2015a).

In 2013 the Town of Chatham renewed its USACE regulatory permit for dredging of 6 waterways and 17 disposal sites and added one new waterway for dredging – Morris Island Cut – under one Comprehensive Dredging and Disposal Project (USACE 2013j). Of the 7 dredging locations, only 2 are located at inlets within this inventory with 1 a federal navigation channel maintained by the USACE and the other maintained by the town. Of the 17 disposal locations, 14 are beach nourishment sites and the other 3 are nearshore disposal sites; 5 of the 14 beach fill sites are exposed beaches included in Rice (2015b).

Hurricane Sandy damages to the dual jetties at the Merrimack River inlet to Newburyport Harbor were repaired in between 2012 and 2015 by the USACE; no modifications to the size or location of the jetties were made (USACE New England District website). Jetties were repaired at Green Harbor inlet in 2014 and the east jetty is scheduled for further repairs in late 2016 for damages resulting from a January 2015 storm (Kashinsky 2014, Sparks 2016). The jetties at Nantucket Harbor were repaired in 2015 following Hurricane Sandy (USACE 2014d).

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 In 2015, three years after Hurricane Sandy, the number of tidal inlets open along the exposed shoreline of Massachusetts was 133 (Table 2 and Table B-3 in Appendix B). Eighty-six (86) of the 133 (65%) tidal inlets open in 2015 in Massachusetts had been modified by anthropogenic activities. Prior to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, there were 122 tidal inlets known to be open in Massachusetts, 81 (66%) of which had been modified in at least one manner (Rice 2015a). Of the 79 inlets (59%) with hard structures in Massachusetts in 2015, 43 have jetties, 28 have groins, 6 have breakwaters, and 38 have revetments, seawalls and/or bulkheads.

Two inlets (2%) have been artificially relocated in Massachusetts – Chatham (Stage) Harbor Inlet in 1965 and Ellisville Harbor (Salt Pond) Inlet at Ellisville Marsh in 2003 (Howes et al. 2003, Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs 2003). The shoal complexes of at least 2 inlets have been mined to supply sediment for beach nourishment projects – the two

12 inlets to Sengekontacket Pond on Martha’s Vineyard; when North Inlet was artificially reopened in 2015, the dredged material was again used as beach fill on nearby beaches (USACE 2013d; Dukes County 2015; Hull 2015). At least 7 inlets have been closed artificially and available information indicates that one other inlet has been closed artificially in Massachusetts.

Altogether, new inlets have been cut artificially in at least 29 locations in Massachusetts, 17 of which were open in 2015. Fifty-two (52) inlets (39%) have been or continue to be periodically dredged for navigation or erosion control purposes. Rice (2015a) described historical inlets that have been open along Massachusetts’ exposed coast, the history of pond letting (i.e., artificial breaching of coastal ponds) in the state, and documented impacts resulting from modifications to certain inlets.

Proposed and Anticipated Habitat Modifications In 2016 the Moses Smith Creek marsh was proposed for restoration, including removing up to 12 acres of fill to increase the tidal prism. The tidal inlet will be relocated northeast away from private property to Round Hill Beach, which is owned by the Town of Dartmouth. The increased tidal prism should help maintain the inlet opening. The inlet would be allowed to migrate south for some distance but may be relocated northeast again if needed in the future (Susi von Oettingen, USFWS, pers. communication, 9/30/16).

In the long-term future, FitzGerald et al. (2001, p. 447) states that Duxbury Beach “is highly susceptible to future storm breaching,” although the maintenance of an artificial dune ridge has prevented overwash breaching in the short-term (Rosen and FitzGerald 2014). Back barrier marshes at high elevations (high marshes) make barrier islands wider and retard the formation of overwash channels4 that can lead to the opening of new inlets during storms (FitzGerald et al. 2001). As a result, beaches and barrier spits that are narrow and lack high elevation back barrier marshes may be the most vulnerable to new inlet formation in Massachusetts as sea level continues to rise.

New inlets are likely to open and close at many of southern Massachusetts’ coastal ponds just as they have historically. As sea level rises and storm frequency and intensity changes, these inlets may remain open for longer periods of time or permanently, in the absence of human modifications, as the rising sea allows the tides to more efficiently perpetuate the inlets.

Rhode Island

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Hurricane Sandy opened one new tidal inlet in Rhode Island at Trustom Pond (Rice 2015e). The inlet at Trustom Pond opened by Hurricane Sandy remained open for nearly a year before closing naturally. The inlet to Little Pond closed naturally in 2013-14. In the three years following Hurricane Sandy, the inlets at Point Judith and Great Salt Pond on Block Island were

4 Many barrier islands have salt marsh along the back, or bay, side of the island (where development and armoring have not precluded the salt marsh from forming and/or persisting). Salt marsh also may form along the edges of overwash fans on the bayside of barrier islands or spits. High-tide salt marshes, as opposed to low marshes or tidal flats, have higher elevation relative to sea level, “which essentially serve to widen the barrier making storm breaching more difficult” (FitzGerald et al. 2001, p. 447).

13 dredged (USACE 2015o). The jetty on the east side of Point Judith inlet was repaired by the USACE in 2014; Hurricane Sandy had removed and displaced a number of the jetty’s stones (Dugan 2014).

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 In 2015, three years after Hurricane Sandy, the number of tidal inlets open along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline of Rhode Island was 16 (Table 2 and Table B-4 in Appendix B). Of the 16 tidal inlets open in 2015, 9 (56%) had been modified by anthropogenic activities. Of the 6 inlets (38%) with hard structures, 5 have dual jetties, 1 has a breakwater, and 4 have revetments, seawalls and/or bulkheads; 5 of the 6 inlets with hard stabilization structures are located west of Narragansett Bay. Prior to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, there were 17 tidal inlets open in Rhode Island, 9 (53%) of which had been modified in at least one manner (Rice 2015a).

No inlets have been relocated, with artificial closures of existing inlets and openings of new inlets nearby. No inlets have been mined to supply sediment for beach nourishment projects, although dredged material is placed on nearby beaches at some inlets. Eight (8) inlets (47%) have been or continue to be periodically dredged for navigation or habitat restoration projects.

Rice (2015a) described historical inlets that have been open along Rhode Island’s southern coast, the history of pond letting in the state, and documented impacts resulting from modifications to certain inlets. New historical information identified the locations of several historical inlets opened by the Great Hurricane of 1938 at Sandy Point / Napatree Beach, Winnapaug Pond and Quonochontaug Pond, and by Hurricane Carol in 1954 at Maschaug Pond, Winnapaug Pond, Quonochontaug Pond and Ninigret Pond. Two of the 1938 inlets (at Napatree and Winnapaug Pond) were closed artificially but the rest closed naturally (Cawley 1938, Nichols and Marston 1939, Janet Freedman, RI CRMC, pers. communication, 8/25/16). This new information increases the number of inlets known to be closed artificially in RI from zero to two.

Proposed and Anticipated Habitat Modifications New inlets are likely to open and close at many of Rhode Island’s coastal ponds just as they have historically. As sea level rises and climate changes, these inlets may remain open for longer periods of time or permanently, in the absence of human modifications, as the rising sea allows the tides to more efficiently perpetuate the inlets.

The Rhode Island Salt Pond Region Special Area Management Plan states that new inlets breached to Potter Pond through East Matunuck Beach must be evaluated before a decision is made to artificially close them, while new inlets cut to Quonochontaug, Winnapaug or Maschaug Ponds may be immediately closed by artificial fill (RI CRMC 1999). The plan also states that beach nourishment is the preferred method of shore protection with the sediment mined from inlet and harbor dredging wherever feasible (RI CRMC 1999).

In December 2015 the USACE finalized a Dredged Material Management Plan (DMMP) and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) for Long Island Sound (USACE 2015o). The DMMP and PEIS proposes to dredge sediment from a number of channels and place the material on beaches where the sediment is composed of suitable sand, as well as in a variety of upland, nearshore, and offshore disposal sites depending on the location and composition of the

14 dredged material. Along the Rhode Island shoreline, the DMMP proposes to continue dredging one inlet included in this assessment. Sandy sediment dredged from Great Salt Pond inlet on Block Island would be placed in a nearshore disposal site offshore West Beach (USACE 2015o).

Connecticut

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Hurricane Sandy opened one inlet and closed two inlets in Connecticut (Rice 2015e). The inlet created by Hurricane Sandy at Griswold Point remained open in 2015. The inlet at Goshen Cove that was closed by Hurricane Sandy naturally reopened slightly to the east between the jetties less than a month after the hurricane; an inlet periodically opens and closes naturally at Goshen Cove, often on an annual basis. When the inlet is closed it is occasionally opened artificially by the state, but has not been opened artificially since Hurricane Sandy (Laura Saucier, CT DEEP, pers. communication, 9/6/16). Nettleton Creek inlet, also closed by Hurricane Sandy, was mechanically opened in late 2013 but then closed naturally and remained closed in 2015; the training walls at the inlet were also removed (Laura Saucier, CT DEEP, pers. communication, 4/1/15).

In the three years since Hurricane Sandy, one other new inlet opened naturally in Connecticut (Table 1). A new breach or inlet opened on Menunketesuck Island sometime between November 6, 2012, and September 19, 2013. One additional inlet (Nettleton Creek) was opened artificially. In addition to the second closing of the inlet at Nettleton Creek, 3 inlets near Sandy Point in West Haven ceased to exist when the sand spits and/or islets adjacent to them submerged or eroded away.

Between 2012 and 2015 several inlets were dredged by the USACE. The federal navigation channel at Clinton Harbor inlet was dredged with 49,900 cy of dredged material placed on East Beach at Hammonasset SP in 2012-13 (Raus 2013, USACE 2015o). The channels at Guilford Harbor (East River) were dredged in 2014-15, with ~53,000 cy of sediment placed at the Central Long Island Sound Disposal Site (USACE 2014f, 2015o). Dredging of the Housatonic River inlet channel was proposed in August 2012 but was not conducted until after Hurricane Sandy in 2013 (USACE 2012b, 2015o).

In late 2014 the USACE dredged the federal navigation channel in Wequetaquock Cove / Anguilla Brook in Little Narragansett Bay near Sandy Point (known as the Pawcatuck River, Little Narragansett Bay and Watch Hill Cove Federal Navigation Project) and placed ~60,000 cy of dredged material on Sandy Point Island (USACE 2014k). In late 2015 up to 2,600 cy of additional hard packed sand and rock were dredged from the inlet channel and placed in two nearshore disposal sites off Misquamicut Beach in RI (USACE 2015c).

The state of CT mechanically dredged Money Point Inlet and Tom’s Creek shortly after Hurricane Sandy, neither of which were known to have been modified by dredging prior to the storm (Laura Saucier, CT DEEP, pers. communication, 9/6/16).

The dual training walls at Nettleton Creek in Silver Sands SP were removed in 2013 (Laura Saucier, CT DEEP, pers. communication, 4/1/15), but the inlet was closed in 2015 and not one of

15 the 54 tidal inlets open three years after Hurricane Sandy. The breakwaters on both sides of the inlet at Bridgeport Harbor inlet were repaired in 2015, following damages from Hurricane Sandy (USACE 2016h).

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 In 2015, three years after Hurricane Sandy, the number of tidal inlets open along the Long Island Sound shoreline of Connecticut was 54 (Table 2 and Table B-5 in Appendix B). Of the 54 tidal inlets open in 2015, 45 (83%) had been modified by anthropogenic activities. Of the 44 inlets (81%) with hard structures, 16 have jetties (9 with a single jetty and 7 with dual jetties), 17 have groins, 5 have breakwaters, and 30 have revetments, seawalls and/or bulkheads. Prior to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, there were 56 tidal inlets open in Connecticut, 48 (86%) of which had been modified in at least one manner (Rice 2015a).

Fourteen (14) inlets (26%) have been or continue to be periodically dredged for navigation or erosion control purposes. No inlets have been relocated in Connecticut. The shoal complexes of no inlets have been mined to supply sediment for beach nourishment projects, although dredged material is placed on nearby beaches at some inlets. Two inlets (Goshen Cove and Nettleton Creek) have been artificially opened in Connecticut, but only Goshen Cove inlet remained open in 2015.

Rice (2015a) described historical inlets that have been open along Connecticut’s Long Island Sound shoreline, the history of opening and closing inlets artificially, the use of tide gates at inlets, and documented impacts resulting from modifications to certain inlets.

Proposed and Anticipated Habitat Modifications In the spring of 2016, the state of CT mechanically opened Nettleton Creek again, which had closed naturally in 2015. The Bride Brook channel at Rocky Neck SP in East Lyme historically had an inlet, but the brook has been channelized through an armored culvert at its outlet and is not considered a functioning inlet in this assessment; nevertheless, the state of CT has proposed to dredge the channel to clear shoals deposited by Hurricanes Irene and Sandy to restore fish passage in 2016 or 2017 (ALS 2012; Laura Saucier, CT DEEP, pers. communication, 9/6/16).

The USACE is preparing a separate DMMP for Bridgeport Harbor in 2016, which has not been dredged since 1962-63 (USACE 2015o). Also in 2016 the USACE was scheduled to dredge approximately 14,000 cy of sediment from the Milford Harbor inlet channel and place the material in a nearshore disposal area off Bayview and Pond Point Beaches to the east; previous dredging episodes in 1988 (federal) and 2007 (state) placed the dredged material at the Central Long Island Sound Disposal Site (USACE 2015d, 2016c).

16 navigation channels in Wequetaquock Cove / Anguilla Brook in Little Narragansett Bay near Sandy Point will continue to be placed on Sandy Point beach when the material is sand and in an offshore disposal site when the material is not sand. Sandy and non-sandy material dredged from the Niantic Bay and Harbor inlet channels is proposed to be placed at the New London (offshore) Disposal Site. Dredged material from the Patchogue River inlet channels is proposed to be placed on Grove and Westbrook Beaches when it is sand and at the Cornfield Shoals (offshore) Disposal Site when it is not sand (USACE 2015o).

Sand dredged from Clinton Harbor inlet would be placed on Clinton or Hammonasset Beaches, where previously it has been placed in the nearshore off Hammonasset Beach SP. A new beach disposal location is proposed at Jacobs Beach for sand dredged from the Guilford Harbor inlet. Sand dredged from the Milford Harbor inlet would be placed on Gulf or Silver Sands Beaches, also new beach disposal locations. While Short Beach is proposed to remain a beach disposal location for sand dredged from the lower channel of the Housatonic River inlet, other nearby (unspecified) beaches are now proposed for sediment placement as well as several offshore disposal sites. Sasco Hill and Southport Beaches are also proposed as new sediment placement sites for sand dredged from the Southport Harbor inlet channels. Sand dredged from Halloween Basin (Westcott Cove) would be placed on Cummings Park Beaches, a new disposal site for dredged material. Altogether 5 tidal inlets modified by dredging in Connecticut are proposed to place sandy sediment on new nearby beaches under the DMMP for Long Island Sound.

New York – Long Island Sound Shoreline

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Hurricane Sandy did not open or close any tidal inlets on the North Shore of Long Island (Rice 2015e). Since Hurricane Sandy, one new inlet has formed near Cove Point in Cove Neck; growth of a sandy spit enclosed a small embayment, creating a well-defined inlet by May 2015.

In the three years after Hurricane Sandy, several inlets were dredged on the LIS shoreline of New York. Stony Brook Harbor was dredged by Suffolk County in 2013, with the dredged material placed on a nearby beach (USACE 2015o). Suffolk County requested a new federal permit for 10 years of annual maintenance dredging of Wading River Creek in Riverhead in 2014, with placement of 8,000 to 10,000 cubic yards of dredged material on 3,100 feet (945 m) of beach immediately to the east of the inlet; the inlet was not previously known to be modified by dredging (USACE 2014h). The Nissequogue River inlet channel was dredged by Suffolk County on behalf of the Town of Smithtown, with ~93,000 cy of sediment placed on Smithtown Short Beach Town Park and the beach at Sunken Meadow SP (USACE 2016i).

The U.S. Coast Guard has dredged Eaton’s Neck Harbor inlet annually of 4,675 to 8,770 cy since 2011, including each of the three years since Hurricane Sandy, with the sediment placed on the adjacent beach (USACE 2015o). The USACE dredging project at Mattituck Inlet in 2014 not only dredged the inlet but also bypassed sand from the west side of the inlet to the east, placing ~124,000 cubic yards of sediment on the beach to the east of the inlet to offset erosion (USACE 2015o).

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 In 2015, three years after Hurricane Sandy, the number of tidal inlets open along the Long Island Sound shoreline of New York was 29 (Table 2 and Table B-6 in Appendix B). Of the 29 tidal inlets open in 2015 east of Plum Point, 22 (76%) had been modified by anthropogenic activities. Of the 20 inlets (69%) with hard structures, 9 have jetties (5 with a single jetty and 4 with dual jetties), 5 have groins, and 9 have revetments, seawalls and/or bulkheads. Prior to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, there were 28 tidal inlets open on the Long Island Sound shoreline of New York, 22 (79%) of which had been modified in at least one manner (Rice 2015a).

No inlets have been relocated on the LIS shoreline of New York. At least one inlet was cut artificially – Flax Pond Inlet in 1803 in Brookhaven; the inlet was dredged periodically from then to at least 1947 when dual jetties were built to stabilize the inlet (Abrams et al. 2008). Two inlets have been mined to supply sediment for commercial purposes – Mattituck Inlet and Flax Pond Inlet (Abrams et al. 2008, Morgan et al. 2005, Batten and Kraus 2006).

No known inlets or breaches have been closed artificially along the Long Island Sound shoreline of New York. Rice (2015a) described historical inlets that have been open along Long Island’s northern coast, differences between tidal inlets on the North Shore and the South Shore, and documented impacts resulting from modifications to certain inlets.

Twelve (12) inlets (41%) have been or continue to be periodically dredged for navigation or erosion control purposes, most of them by Suffolk County which has owned and operated its own dredge since 1949 (Town of East Hampton 1999). Prior to 2012, only 8 tidal inlets on the Long Island Sound shoreline of NY were documented to have been modified by dredging (Rice 2015a). The increase in the number of inlets modified by dredging from 8 to 12 is due to new information sources that documented previous dredging at 4 additional inlets. New information contained in the Long Island Sound DMMP identified a federal navigation channel at Hempstead Harbor inlet that was initially dredged in 1912 but last maintained in 1950 (USACE 2015o); a dredging modification for this inlet was not previously identified in Rice (2015a). Similarly, a federal navigation channel at Port Jefferson Harbor inlet was identified in the Long Island Sound DMMP as having been initially constructed in 1883, but the channel has been repeatedly deepened and maintained by local interests since 1906 (USACE 2015o); a dredging modification for this inlet was not previously identified in Rice (2015a).

The Long Island Sound DMMP also provided new information regarding the dredging history of Mt. Sinai Harbor which had not previously been identified by Rice (2015a). Mt. Sinai Harbor inlet and harbor have been dredged since the mid-1800s when a new inlet opened at the west side of the harbor; up until that time an inlet was open on the east side of the harbor (when it was known as Old Mans Harbor) but required dredging to remain open. The new inlet position was preferred by local interests, who began dredging the new inlet and stabilized it with jetties in 1927. The old eastern inlet then naturally closed sometime before 1933. The inner harbor was mined for the commercial sale of sand and gravel from 1910 to the mid-1960s, with ~5 million cy of sediment removed from nearly half of the harbor. The most recent inlet dredging episode was in 2006 and placed the dredged material on adjacent East Beach; previous dredging in 1994 and 1995 placed sand on Cedar Beach (Town of Brookhaven 2006).

Finally, a new information source documented the modification of Wading River Creek by dredging since 1961 (USACE 2014h). The Town of Riverhead received a new 10-year maintenance dredging permit from the USACE for Wading River Creek in 2014.

Proposed and Anticipated Habitat Modifications The Long Island Sound DMMP anticipates dredging Mattituck Inlet every 10 to 14 years, as has been the maintenance schedule since 1920, with the next dredging episode expected in 2028 (USACE 2015o). Suffolk County requested a 10-year maintenance dredging permit for the Nissequogue River inlet channel in April 2016, with 4 or 5 dredging events anticipated within the 10-year period (USACE 2016i).

In December 2015 the USACE finalized a Dredged Material Management Plan and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Long Island Sound (USACE 2015o). The DMMP and PEIS proposes to dredge sediment from a number of channels and place the material on beaches where the sediment is composed of suitable sand, as well as in a variety of upland, nearshore, and offshore disposal sites depending on the location and composition of the dredged material. Along the Long Island Sound shoreline of New York, the DMMP proposes to place dredged sediment from Hempstead Harbor inlet, Glen Cove Creek inlet, and Port Jefferson Harbor in offshore disposal sites. Sand dredged from the Eaton’s Neck Harbor is proposed to be placed on Hobart Beach, a disposal location to the south of where sediment has previously been placed. Mattituck Inlet would continue to be dredged, with sand continuing to be placed on Bailie’s Beach (USACE 2015o).

New York – Peconic Estuary Shoreline

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Hurricane Sandy opened 11 new tidal inlets or breaches and closed one existing inlet along the Peconic Estuary shoreline of New York (Rice 2015e). Seven (7) of the inlets or breaches opened by Hurricane Sandy were on Gardiners Island, 5 of which closed naturally and 2 of which remained open three years after the storm (Table 1). All 3 inlets that opened on Shelter Island in Hurricane Sandy remained open three years later. The final inlet opened by Hurricane Sandy, at Long Beach Tidal Wetland Area, was nearly closed in May 2015, and may have been exchanging water with the bay only at high tide levels. Oyster Pond Inlet, which was closed during Hurricane Sandy, reopened briefly but then closed again.

In the 3 years since Hurricane Sandy, an additional breach opened on the spit connecting Gardiners and Cartwright Islands (Table 1). An unnamed inlet on Jessup’s Neck at Elizabeth Morton NWR closed. An unnamed inlet near Beach Road in Jamesport also closed. One of the unnamed inlets at Mashomack Preserve on Shelter Island closed. Altogether, in the three years after Hurricane Sandy, 4 new inlets opened and 10 closed. In 2015, the number of inlets open on the Peconic Estuary of NY increased by 4 to 100.

By May 2015 the mouth of Downs Creek inlet in Cutchogue had migrated nearly 1,000 ft (305 m) to the east with the accretion or growth of the spit from the west since 2012. In late 2015, Downs Creek LLC initiated a project to relocate the inlet ~1,000 ft (305 m) back to the west by artificially creating a new inlet, with sediment excavated from the new channel placed to the east

19 on the newly created islet between the new and old inlets (Lisinski 2015, NYS DEC Permit 1- 4738-00219/00008, USACE 2015a). Because the old inlet was not artificially closed as part of the project, the new Downs Creek Inlet is considered an artificially created inlet and not a relocated inlet in this assessment.

Several inlets were dredged along the Peconic Estuary shoreline between 2012 and 2015. The USACE dredged Lake Montauk inlet in 2014, removing ~20,000 cy of sediment and placing it on the beach immediately to the west (USACE 2015o). Fresh Pond in Amagansett, the inlet at the Devon Yacht Club marina in Amagansett, Napeague Harbor, and Hog Creek Inlet also were dredged. New information sources documented that Fresh Pond in Amagansett had been modified by dredging prior to 2012, and the Town of East Hampton renewed its dredging permit for the inlet in 2013 (NYS DEC Permit 1-4724-00713/00008). Rice (2015a) only listed Fresh Pond in Amagansett as being proposed for dredging due to a project proposed by the Town of East Hampton to dredge the inlet and shorten the groins near the inlet (Town of East Hampton 1999).

Suffolk County dredged Accabonac Harbor in January 2013 with ~25,000 cy of dredged material placed on Louse Point Beach (Abbas 2013). Suffolk County also dredged Brush’s Creek, Corey Creek, Richmond Creek and Deep Hole Creek with the dredged material generally placed on nearby beaches in 2013 (Miller 2014). In 2015 Suffolk County modified its 10-year maintenance dredging permit for Deep Hole Creek in Southold to expand the dredging area to Willis Creek, with continued placement of dredged material on the beaches adjacent to the inlet (USACE 2015e). A new 10-year maintenance dredging permit was also issued by the USACE to Suffolk County in 2015 for dredging Corey Creek every two years with an anticipated sediment volume of ~8,000 cy placed on beaches to the east and west of the inlet (USACE 2015f).

Suffolk County received a 10-year permit to dredge Meetinghouse Creek with placement of suitable dredged material on the beach at Indian Island County Park as well as an upland disposal area elsewhere in the park (USACE 2013k). Suffolk County received a 10-year permit to annually dredge East Creek with placement of suitable dredged material on the beaches both east and west of the inlet (USACE 2013r). A new 10-year maintenance dredging permit was issued by the USACE to Suffolk County in 2015 for dredging Goose Creek every 3 to 4 years with an anticipated sediment volume of ~7,000 cy placed on the beach to the east of the inlet (USACE 2015g). A new 10-year maintenance dredging permit was also issued by the USACE to Suffolk County in 2015 for dredging Mill Creek in Noyack every 2 to 3 years with an anticipated sediment volume of ~6,000 cy placed on the beaches to the east and west of the inlet (USACE 2015h).

The jetty and bulkheads at the inlet at the Devon Yacht Club in Amagansett were replaced in 2014-15 (NYS DEC Permit Application 1-4724-00030/00060).

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 In 2015, three years after Hurricane Sandy, the number of tidal inlets open along the Peconic Estuary shoreline of New York was 100 (Table 2 and Table B-7 in Appendix B). Of the 100 tidal inlets open in 2015, 69 (69%) had been modified by anthropogenic activities. Of the 56 inlets (56%) with hard structures, 21 have dual jetties, 2 have single box jetties, 16 have groins,

42 have revetments, seawalls and/or bulkheads, and 1 has a breakwater. Prior to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, there were 96 tidal inlets open along the Peconic Estuary shoreline of New York, 68 (71%) of which had been modified in at least one manner (Rice 2015a).

One new inlet has been artificially opened (Downs Creek) in addition to the seven inlets that previously were known to have been artificially opened in the Peconic Estuary (Rice 2015a).

One inlet has historically been relocated on the Peconic Estuary shoreline (Rice 2015a). The shoal complexes of no inlets are known to have been mined to supply sediment for beach nourishment projects, although dredged material is placed on nearby beaches at several inlets. No inlets or breaches have been closed artificially, but at least 24 inlets have opened and 21 closed naturally along the Peconic Estuary shoreline in the last century or so.

Forty-nine (49) inlets (49%) have been or continue to be periodically dredged for navigation or erosion control purposes and another three were proposed for dredging. Prior to Hurricane Sandy, 46 inlets on the Peconic Estuary were documented to have been modified by dredging. Suffolk County owns its own dredge (Peconic Estuary Program 2004; USACE 2012c, 2012e, 2015) and maintains at least 41 inlets in the Peconic Estuary and along the Long Island Sound shoreline within the county. In 2015, 49 inlets were documented to have been modified by dredging, but only 1 of the 3 new inlets was actually dredged between 2012 and 2015 – Downs Creek. The other two inlets – Fresh Pond in Amagansett and Dreamers Cove / Cases Creek – were identified as having been modified by dredging prior to 2012 through new information sources. Fresh Pond in Amagansett was historically dredged by the Town of East Hampton as needed for water quality purposes (Town of East Hampton 1999). Dreamers Cove / Cases Creek was dredged 7 times between 1985 and 2006 with a total of ~30,000 cy of sediment dredged from the inlet; the inlet was dredged again in January 2016 (USACE 2015o, Gannon 2016).

Rice (2015a) described historical inlets that have been open along Long Island’s Peconic Estuary shoreline, differences between tidal inlets on the Peconic Estuary, North Shore and South Shore, and documented impacts resulting from modifications to certain inlets.

Proposed and Anticipated Habitat Modifications The Peconic Estuary is included in the new federal Dredged Material Management Plan and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Long Island Sound (USACE 2015o). The DMMP and PEIS proposes to dredge sediment from a number of channels and place the material on beaches where the sediment is composed of suitable sand, as well as in a variety of upland, nearshore, and offshore disposal sites depending on the location and composition of the dredged material. Along the Peconic Estuary shoreline of New York, the DMMP proposes to place dredged sediment from Lake Montauk inlet on Gin and Lake Montauk beaches adjacent to the inlet and from Stirling Basin (Greenport Harbor) on Gull Pond Beach (USACE 2015o).

An inlet to a private boat basin along Shipyard Lane in East Marion that had closed by 2004 was proposed to be artificially reopened in 2014, but as of May 23, 2015, the inlet had not been reopened according to observations from Google Earth imagery (USACE 2014j). A 500 ft (152

21 m) brush-filled jetty5 was proposed to be constructed on Budds Pond inlet in 2015, but no permits had been issued approving the work by the end of 2015 (NYS DEC Permit Application 1-4738-04140/00007).

New York – Atlantic Ocean Shoreline

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Hurricane Sandy opened 3 inlets or breaches along the South Shore of Long Island (Rice 2015e). Of the 3 breaches or inlets opened by Hurricane Sandy on the South Shore of Long Island, 2 were closed artificially within two months and the third, at Fire Island NS, remains open and is one of only two inlets between Montauk, NY, and Chincoteague, VA, that are not modified in any manner (the other inlet being Little Egg Inlet, NJ, which has been proposed for dredging). In the 3 years after Hurricane Sandy, the breach complex at Fire Island NS continued to evolve with shoals and spits accreting, or growing, and retreating; the breach has remained relatively stable in its position but the main channel widens and narrows seasonally (Flagg et al. 2015; Michael Bilecki, NPS, pers. communication, 8/10/16).

In the three years following Hurricane Sandy, nearly all 9 inlets modified by dredging on the South Shore were dredged. Periodic pond letting at Georgica, Sagaponack, and Mecox Ponds continued. Suffolk County dredged Shinnecock Inlet area channels in 2015 and placed dredged material on beaches to both the east and west of the inlet (USACE 2015n). Moriches Inlet was mined for breach fill (~200,000 cy) to close the breach opened by Hurricane Sandy at Cupsogue Beach County Park in November-December 2012 (USACE 2013i).

Fire Island Inlet was dredged in 2014 by the USACE with 1,200,000 cy of sediment placed at Tobay Beach and Gilgo Beach. Fire Island Inlet was mined with 790,000 cy of sediment removed in 2013-14 by the New York State Department of Transportation to construct an artificial dune/levee along Ocean Parkway at Tobay and Gilgo Beaches plus an artificial dune/levee to protect the traffic circle at Robert Moses SP (USFWS 2014c). The inlet had previously been mined in 1977 (Rice 2014).

The USACE dredged Jones Inlet in 2014, placing ~680,000 cy of dredged material on the beach at Point Lookout (USACE 2013l). Sediment dredged from East Rockaway Inlet in 2013-14 was used as beach fill on the federal nourishment project on the Rockaways, supplementing sediment mined from an offshore borrow area (USACE New York District website, accessed 3/31/16). Sediment was mined from Rockaway Inlet for use as beach fill on Coney Island-Brighton Beach in 2013 and will be mined for use as beach fill at Sea Gate in 2015-16. Rockaway Inlet had previously been mined twice for beach fill, but several decades ago for placement at Floyd Bennett Field in 1929 and Jacob Riis Park in 1936 (Dallas et al. 2013, USACE New York District website, accessed 3/31/16).

The jetty at Jones Inlet was repaired by the USACE in 2014 (USACE 2013m). The east jetty at East Rockaway Inlet was also repaired in 2014 by the USACE (USACE 2013s).

5 Some jetties in New England are box-shaped, constructed out of steel sheet pile in the shape of a box rather than a narrower rock wall or dike extending perpendicular to shore. These box-jetties are typically filled with sediment, but this project proposes to use brush.

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 In 2015, three years after Hurricane Sandy, the number of tidal inlets open along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline of New York was 10 (Table 2 and Table B-8 in Appendix B). Of the 10 tidal inlets open in 2015, 9 (90%) had been modified by anthropogenic activities, with the new inlet/breach at Fire Island NS the solitary unmodified inlet. Of the 6 inlets (60%) with hard structures, 6 have jetties (4 with a single jetty and 2 with dual jetties), 1 has a terminal groin, 2 have groin fields on their inlet shorelines or immediately adjacent to the inlet, 1 has a dike structure, and 4 have revetments, bulkheads and/or seawalls. Prior to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, there were 9 tidal inlets open on the Atlantic Ocean shoreline of New York, all 9 (100%) of which had been modified in at least one manner (Rice 2014).

Rice (2014) described historical inlets that have been open along Long Island’s South Shore, differences between tidal inlets on the North Shore and South Shore, the history of pond letting on the South Shore, and documented impacts resulting from modifications to certain inlets. One new historical inlet area was identified in Napeague, where the Great Hurricane of 1938 reportedly breached the eastern tip of the South Fork and isolated the Montauk area for a few weeks (Rattiner 2008).

No inlets have been relocated on New York’s Atlantic Ocean shoreline. New inlets have been cut artificially in 5 locations, 4 of which were open in 2015 (Rice 2014). The shoal complexes of at least 4 inlets have been mined to supply sediment for beach nourishment projects: Shinnecock Inlet, Moriches Inlet, Fire Island Inlet, and Rockaway Inlet (Buonaiuto et al. 2008, Cialone and Stauble 1998, Dallas et al. 2013, McCormick et al. 1984, USACE 2013i).

Prior to Hurricane Sandy, at least 4 inlets or breaches were closed artificially after having been opened by storm events (Rice 2014). Two breaches that were opened by Hurricane Sandy at Cupsogue County Park and Smith Point County Park were artificially closed in less than two months following the storm by the USACE under their pre-existing Breach Contingency Plan with the NYS DEC (USACE 2013i). These two breach closures in 2012 increase the total number of inlets closed artificially on the South Shore to 6.

Nine (9) out of 10 (90%) of New York’s oceanfront inlets have been or continue to be periodically dredged for navigation or erosion control purposes.

Proposed Habitat Modifications Jones Inlet has been identified by the USACE as a potential source for beach fill in future renourishment episodes for the adjacent Jones Inlet to East Rockaway Inlet (Long Beach Island) Coastal Storm Risk Management Project, which initiated construction in 2015 (USACE 2014n).

The NPS is developing a Breach Management Plan for the future management of the breach opened by Hurricane Sandy on Fire Island NS.

New Jersey

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Hurricane Sandy opened 7 inlets or breaches in New Jersey (Rice 2015e). All 7 of the breaches opened by Hurricane Sandy were closed three years later, with the 3 in Mantoloking artificially closed within days of the storm and the 3 breaches on the Holgate spit closing naturally within a few weeks. The reopened Sea Girt Inlet closed naturally by April 2013, was reopened artificially at least twice by the Borough of Spring Lake for emergency flood control measures, closed naturally both times, and was then replaced by a box culvert as part of a fish passage restoration project to Wreck Pond in 2014 (USFWS 2015a; Todd Pover, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ, pers. communication, 8/16/16).

Dredging of several inlets in New Jersey was conducted in the three years since Hurricane Sandy. Maintenance dredging of Shark River Inlet was conducted by the USACE in 2014, with ~150,000 cy of dredged sediment placed as a nearshore berm off the beach north of the north jetty in Avon by the Sea (USACE 2013t, 2014p). Manasquan Inlet, Barnegat Inlet and Cape May (Cold Spring) Inlet were also dredged by the USACE between 2012 and 2015 (USACE Philadelphia District website, accessed 6/9/16).

In the three years since Hurricane Sandy, sediment was mined from Brigantine Inlet (in early 2013), Absecon Inlet (in 2013), Great Egg Harbor Inlet (in 2013 and 2015), Townsends Inlet (in 2013) and Hereford Inlet (in 2013) for use as beach fill in federal projects constructed by the USACE (USACE Philadelphia District website, accessed 11/10/2015 and 5/31/2016).

The landward end of the north jetty at Manasquan Inlet was repaired by the state and county after Hurricane Sandy. Repairs to the north jetty at Barnegat Inlet were delayed by the discovery of a historic shipwreck but were completed by the USACE in November 2014 (USACE Philadelphia District website, accessed 6/9/16).

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 In 2015, three years after Hurricane Sandy, the number of tidal inlets open along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline of New Jersey remained 11 (Table 2 and Table B-9 in Appendix B). Of the 11 tidal inlets open in 2015, 10 (91%) remain modified by anthropogenic activities, but the solitary unmodified inlet (Little Egg Inlet) has been proposed to be mined for beach fill and/or dredged for navigation in 2016. Of New Jersey’s 9 tidal inlets (82%) that have been stabilized with hard structures along at least one shoulder, 5 have dual jetties, 2 have terminal groins, 5 have groins, and 7 have revetments, bulkheads and/or seawalls. Prior to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, there were 11 tidal inlets open in New Jersey, 10 (91%) of which had been modified in at least one manner (Rice 2014).

Only one inlet (Townsends Inlet) in NJ has had its main channel relocated, in 1978 (Farrell et al. 1989, Nordstrom 1988, Nordstrom et al. 1986, USFWS 2005). Manasquan Inlet is the only inlet open in 2015 that has been cut artificially in New Jersey (in 1931 after it closed naturally in 1926), after which new rock jetties were built to stabilize the inlet (Farrell et al. 1989). The shoal complexes of at least 7 inlets have been mined to supply sediment for beach nourishment projects (Rice 2014). Little Egg Inlet, the only unmodified inlet in New Jersey and one of only

24 two unmodified inlets between Montauk, NY, and Chincoteague, VA, has been proposed to be mined for beach fill and/or dredged for navigation in 2016 (USACE 2016g).

Prior to Hurricane Sandy, at least 5 inlets in New Jersey had been closed artificially (Rice 2014). Three additional inlets or breaches were closed artificially immediately after Hurricane Sandy opened them, increasing the total number of inlets known to have been artificially closed in New Jersey to 8. The 3 breaches or inlets that were opened in Mantoloking by Hurricane Sandy that were artificially closed within days of the storm were located at Lyman Street, Herbert Street, and ~600 ft (183 m) north of Herbert Street.

Ten (91%) inlets have been or continue to be periodically dredged for navigation or erosion control purposes to redirect channels away from buildings or infrastructure.

Rice (2014) described historical inlets that have been open along New Jersey’s coast, inlets that have historically been artificially opened or closed, and documented impacts resulting from modifications to certain inlets.

Proposed and Anticipated Habitat Modifications In early 2016, Corson’s Inlet was mined twice to supply 1.939 million cubic yards of beach fill sediment for placement at Strathmere, Sea Isle City and south Ocean City; the inlet was previously mined in 1984 and 2009. In late 2016 the USACE is scheduled to mine three or four inlets for beach fill, all of which have previously been mined: Absecon Inlet to place beach fill on Atlantic City and Ventnor City beaches; Great Egg Harbor Inlet to place beach fill on north Ocean City beaches; and Townsends and/or Hereford Inlets to place beach fill on Avalon and Stone Harbor beaches (USACE Philadelphia District website, FedBizOpps.gov website).

The USACE has proposed mining Little Egg Inlet for navigational purposes and/or to use as beach fill for portions of Long Beach Island; a draft Environmental Assessment was released in early 2016 (USACE 2016g). State and local entities have also expressed interest in dredging Little Egg Inlet for navigation. If approved, the dredging and/or mining of Little Egg Inlet would increase the proportion of inlets modified by dredging in New Jersey to 100%.

The USACE proposed constructing two new bulkhead/revetments on the Absecon Inlet shoreline of Atlantic City in 1996, neither of which were constructed prior to Hurricane Sandy. One bulkhead/revetment would extend 1,050 ft (320 m) from Atlantic to Oriental Avenues, and the other would extend 550 ft (168 m) from Madison to Melrose Avenues. The bulkhead/revetments were proposed again after Hurricane Sandy but construction has been delayed pending review by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (USACE 1996b, USACE Philadelphia District website).

The NJDEP Bureau of Coastal Engineering has three armor projects on inlets in the Planning, Engineering and Design Phase as of 2016. The first would be to repair the bulkhead on the south side of Manasquan Inlet. The second is for repairs to the jetty on Absecon Inlet in Atlantic City. The third is to reconstruct the jetty, revetment and groin on Great Egg Inlet in Longport (NJDEP Bureau of Coastal Engineering website).

In 2015 the USACE began to develop a regional sediment management plan for Barnegat Inlet. Barnegat Inlet is dredged three times a year, with approximately 100,000 cy dredged each time (USACE 2016g).

After Hurricane Sandy, the Philadelphia District of the USACE received funds to proceed with a New Jersey Alternative Long-Term Nourishment Regional Sediment Management Study to develop a comprehensive approach to shore protection on the entire NJ coast, including the development of a breach contingency plan to respond to new inlets or breaches and the possible relocation of inlet channels to improve sediment management (USACE Philadelphia District website, most recently accessed 8/29/2016).

Delaware

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Hurricane Sandy did not open or close any tidal inlets in Delaware (Rice 2015e). In the three years since Hurricane Sandy, the flood tidal shoal of Indian River Inlet was mined again by the USACE with ~520,000 cy of sediment placed on 5,500 ft (1,676 m) of beach north of the inlet (USACE 2013n).

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 Prior to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, there was one tidal inlet open in Delaware – Indian River Inlet – and it had been modified in several ways (Rice 2014). Three years after Hurricane Sandy, the number of tidal inlets open along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline of Delaware remained one (Table 2 and Table B-10 in Appendix B). In 2015, Indian River Inlet remained heavily modified by anthropogenic activities.

Rice (2014) described historical inlets that have been open along Delaware’s coast, inlets that have historically been artificially opened or closed, and documented impacts resulting from modifications to certain inlets. No inlets in Delaware have been relocated.

Indian River Inlet has dual jetties and bulkheads, which has eliminated any sandy beach habitat along the inlet shoulders. The inlet has been dredged periodically since 1876. There is a sand bypassing plant at the inlet which bypasses sediment annually to beaches to the north. The flood shoal of the inlet was mined in 1990, 1992 and 2013 to nourish the beach to the north of the inlet (NMFS 2014, USACE 2013n).

Proposed and Anticipated Habitat Modifications Indian River Inlet is anticipated to continue to be modified by annual sediment bypassing and periodic sand mining in the future.

Maryland

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Hurricane Sandy did not open or close any tidal inlets in Maryland (Rice 2015e). The seawall on the north side of Ocean City Inlet was repaired in late 2014 following damages from Hurricane Sandy (USACE Baltimore District website, accessed 6/9/16).

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 Prior to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, there was one tidal inlet open in Maryland, and it had been modified in several ways (Rice 2014). In 2015, three years after Hurricane Sandy, the number of tidal inlets open along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline of Maryland remained one – Ocean City Inlet (Table 2 and Table B-11 in Appendix B).

Rice (2014) described historical inlets that have been open along Maryland’s coast, inlets that have historically been artificially opened or closed, and documented impacts resulting from modifications to certain inlets. No inlets in Maryland have been relocated.

Of the single tidal inlet open in Maryland in 2015, it remained heavily modified by anthropogenic activities. Ocean City Inlet has dual jetties, a seawall, and three breakwaters on its southern shoreline.

Proposed and Anticipated Habitat Modifications Ocean City Inlet has been dredged since 1933 (Rice 2014). The shoal complex of Ocean City Inlet remains scheduled to be mined twice annually to supply sediment for a mechanical sand bypassing project on Assateague Island to compensate for long-term erosional losses from the jetties and dredging at the inlet (Schupp et al. 2013, Schupp and Coburn 2015).

Virginia

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Hurricane Sandy opened 5 new tidal inlets and closed one in Virginia (Rice 2015e). An unnamed inlet on Myrtle Island that was closed by Hurricane Sandy remained closed in 2015. The inlet opened at Chincoteague NWR at Swan Cove Pool during Hurricane Sandy closed naturally within a few months, as did the small inlet opened near Toms Cove Hook. Hurricane Sandy also breached a coastal pond on Hog Island, but the inlet closed naturally in late 2013 or early 2014. One of two unnamed inlets on Fisherman Island opened by Hurricane Sandy remained open6 while the other had closed naturally.

Several ephemeral inlets or breaches opened and closed along Virginia’s Eastern Shore within the three years after Hurricane Sandy: two at ponds at Toms Cove Hook in Chincoteague NWR, and one breach on the spit extending south off of Wreck Island. One new unnamed inlet formed on the north side of Fisherman Island when an islet on the south side of Fishermans Inlet grew and enclosed a small body of water between it and Fisherman Island in 2015. And Hurricane Joaquin in October 2015 appears to have opened three breaches in Virginia, two on Cedar Island and one on Smith Island; the southern breach on Cedar Island closed very quickly but the northern one remained open for the rest of 2015 (but closed in early 2016) (USGW iCoast 2016; Ruth Boettcher, VA DGIF, pers. communication, 8/8/16). The breach on Smith Island was still open but barely exchanging water at low tide after the storm and into 2016 (Alex Wilke, TNC, pers. communication, 8/18/16). Altogether 4 new inlets were open in Virginia, 1 inlet that was

6 This inlet closed naturally in 2016 but periodically opens during storm events (Pam Denmon, USFWS, pers. communication, August 9, 2016).

27 open in 2012 was closed in 2015, and 7 other inlets opened and then closed during or within the three years following Hurricane Sandy (Table 1).

In the three years since Hurricane Sandy, both of the Virginia inlets previously modified by dredging were dredged by the USACE. Chincoteague Inlet was dredged in the winter of 2013- 14, with ~34,350 cy dredged and placed in one of two open water disposal areas (USACE Norfolk District website, accessed 6/9/16). The USACE dredged Rudee Inlet in November 2012 (~9,000 cy), December 2012 (~20,000 cy) and June 2013 (~20,000 cy) with the dredged material either sidecast or placed in a nearshore area north of the inlet jetties (USACE Norfolk District website, accessed 6/9/16). These dredging episodes were in addition to the nearly continuous (daily) sand bypassing that occurs at Rudee Inlet.

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 Prior to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, there were 14 tidal inlets open in Virginia, 2 (14%) of which had been modified in at least one manner (Rice 2014). In 2015, three years after Hurricane Sandy, the number of tidal inlets open along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline of Virginia increased to 17 (Table 2 and Table B-12 in Appendix B).

Rice (2014) described historical inlets that have been open along Virginia’s Eastern Shore, inlets that have historically been artificially opened or closed, and documented impacts resulting from modifications to certain inlets.

Of the 17 tidal inlets open in 2015, 2 (12%) had been modified by anthropogenic activities, only one of which 1 (7%) has been stabilized with hard structures. Rudee Inlet, the inlet with hard structures, has dual jetties. No inlets have been relocated, with artificial closures of existing inlets and openings of new inlets nearby. No new inlets have been cut artificially in Virginia.

Two (14%) inlets have been or continue to be periodically dredged for navigation or erosion control purposes.

Proposed and Anticipated Habitat Modifications In 2015 the City of Virginia Beach requested a USACE permit to mine the deposition basin on the ebb shoal of Rudee Inlet of ~150,000 cy of sand to be used as beach fill on Virginia Beach north of the inlet; the City of Virginia Beach had previously obtained a permit for this modification of Rudee Inlet in 2004 (USACE 2015p). This periodic mining of the ebb shoals of Rudee Inlet was not previously identified in Rice (2014).

In addition, one inlet opened and two closed naturally in early 2016 in Virginia. A second breach opened on the north end of Smith Island in early 2016 (Alex Wilke, TNC, pers. communication, 8/18/16). The inlet that opened on Fisherman Island during Hurricane Sandy that remained open in 2015 closed naturally in early 2016. The south end of the new islet that formed offshore the north side of Fisherman Island attached to Fisherman Island in 2016, eliminating the unnamed inlet that separated the islet from Fisherman Island for a short time (Pam Denmon, USFWS, pers. communication, 8/8/16).

North Carolina

Tidal Inlet Habitat Changes between Hurricane Sandy and 2015 Hurricane Sandy opened 2 tidal inlets in North Carolina (Rice 2015e). New Old Drum Inlet at Cape Lookout NS remained open in 2015 after being opened by Hurricane Sandy. An ephemeral inlet that periodically opens and closes at a coastal pond at Cape Hatteras Point in Cape Hatteras NS was opened by Hurricane Sandy but closed naturally by April 2013; the inlet opened briefly again for a short time in late 2013 and/or early 2014. In addition to the closure of one of the inlets opened by Hurricane Sandy, Pea Island Breach opened at Pea Island NWR in 2011 by Hurricane Irene (and bridged by the NC Department of Transportation) closed naturally in late 2014 or early 2015.

Several breaches have opened at least temporarily in North Carolina from 2012 to 2015 (Table 1). Hurricane Joaquin appears to have opened two temporary breaches at the north end of Portsmouth Island in October 2015; these sites appear to have previously had smaller breaches that were enlarged by Hurricane Joaquin. Neither storm breach appeared to be evolving into stable inlets with full tidal exchange after the October 2015 storm but may do so following future storm events. A breach has formed on Onslow Beach at the Camp Lejeune Marine Base as well. The Onslow Beach breach appears to have first been overwashed sometime between December 2011 and April 2013, with overwash reaching the bayside shoreline. By October 2015 the overwash channel appeared to have enlarged and become a storm breach during Hurricane Joaquin. The breach was not exchanging tidal flow at all tide levels in October 2015, but appears to be capable of tidal exchange at high tide; the breach may soon become an inlet. Altogether, 4 inlets or breaches opened in NC since Hurricane Sandy and 6 closed, all of them naturally (Table 1).

Since Hurricane Sandy, several North Carolina tidal inlets have been dredged. Oregon Inlet continues to be dredged on a fairly frequent basis. In late 2015 the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) dredged a channel on the west side of Hatteras Inlet to maintain navigational access in and around Hatteras Inlet, including ferry access to Ocracoke Island; an estimated 88,000 cy of material was sidecast next to the dredged channel (USACE 2015i, Kozak 2016). Ocracoke Inlet was dredged by the USACE with a sidecast dredge in 2013 (Hinnant 2013). Beaufort Inlet was dredged in 2013 and 2014, with ~775,000 cy of dredged sediment placed on Bogue Banks to the west in the 2014 dredging episode (Hibbs 2013, 2014). Carolina Beach Inlet was dredged with a USACE sidecast dredge in 2013 and then again in 2015 by the USACE, state and New Hanover County, with the material placed in a nearshore disposal site off Carolina Beach to the south (Hinnant 2013, Lane 2015). Lockwoods Folly Inlet was dredged by the USACE in 2013 (Hinnant 2013). The Town of Oak Island dredged Eastern Channel, part of the Lockwoods Folly Inlet complex, in 2015 and removed over 3 acres of emergent shoal habitat; the beach-compatible portion of the dredged material was placed on the beach of west Oak Island (USFWS 2015e).

Seven (7) North Carolina inlets have been mined for beach fill since Hurricane Sandy, three of them new sites that had not previously been mined. The NCDOT mined ~33,000 cy of sediment from within Oregon Inlet to fill a scour hole adjacent to the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge across the inlet in December 2013, which had destabilized the bridge and led to its emergency closure

(USACE 2013p). New Topsail Inlet was mined in 2012 and 2015, both by the Town of Topsail Beach using funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for beach fill along 4.7 miles (7.6 km) of beach north of the inlet (USACE 2013q, Town of North Topsail Beach 2015b). In the winter of 2012-2013, the inlet channel of New River Inlet was relocated, with the dredged material (566,244 cy) used as beach fill on adjacent North Topsail Beach (Town of North Topsail Beach 2015a, USACE 2015l). In addition, four inlets that had been previously mined were mined again. Mason Inlet was mined in 2013 to provide beach fill for Figure Eight Island and to maintain Mason Inlet within a specific location, a cycle that is anticipated to occur every 3 years; the inlet had previously been mined in 2011 (USFWS 2015b and 2016c; Lindsay Addison, Audubon North Carolina, pers. communication, June 14, 2016). In 2014, the USACE mined Shallotte Inlet to renourish adjacent Ocean Isle Beach as part of a federal storm damage reduction project on the island (Ocean Isle Beach 2015). Carolina Beach Inlet was mined in 2013 for beach fill on Carolina Beach and Masonboro Inlet was mined in 2014 for beach fill on Wrightsville Beach (USFWS 2016b and 2016c).

A sandbag revetment was constructed on the south side of New River Inlet at North Topsail Beach in February 2015 (Town of North Topsail Beach 2015a, b). The south jetty at Masonboro Inlet was repaired by the USACE in 2013-14 (USACE 2013u, 2014q). Construction of a terminal groin was completed on Bald Head Island on the east side of the Cape Fear River inlet in January 2016, with a possible future extension of the groin in the future if conditions warrant (Talton 2016b, USACE 2014o, USFWS 2014d).

Tidal Inlet Habitat Status as of 2015 In 2015, three years after Hurricane Sandy, the number of tidal inlets open along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline of North Carolina was 20 (Table 2 and Table B-13 in Appendix B). Of the 20 tidal inlets open in North Carolina 2015, 16 (80%) had been modified by anthropogenic activities. Of the 8 inlets (40%) with hard structures, 2 have jetties (one with a single jetty and one with dual jetties), two have terminal groins, one has a landlocked groin, one has a non- functional / submerged breakwater, and 3 have sandbag revetments. Prior to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, there were 20 tidal inlets open in North Carolina, 17 (85%) of which had been modified in at least one manner (Rice 2012a). The number of modified tidal inlets decreased by one with the natural closure of the breach at Pea Island NWR, which was stabilized with hard structures.

Rice (2012a) described historical inlets that have been open in North Carolina, inlets that have historically been artificially opened or closed, and documented impacts resulting from modifications to certain inlets. At least 13 inlets or breaches have been closed artificially after having been opened by storm events, 4 of which were along NC Highway 12 on the Outer Banks in 2011 (Rice 2012a, 2015d). New inlets have been cut artificially in 5 locations (Masonboro Inlet in 1947, Carolina Beach Inlet in 1952, Tubbs Inlet in 1970, New Drum Inlet in 1971 and Mason Inlet in 2002), with the Masonboro, Tubbs and Mason Inlet openings part of inlet relocation projects (Rice 2012a). The main channel of Bogue Inlet was relocated within the inlet complex in 2006 (Rice 2012a). In the winter of 2012-2013, the inlet channel of New River Inlet was relocated as described above (Town of North Topsail Beach 2015a, USACE 2015l). Altogether, as of 2015, 5 inlets or their channels have been relocated in North Carolina.

As of 2015, the shoal complexes of at least 10 inlets had been mined to supply sediment for beach nourishment projects in North Carolina. Shallotte Inlet was mined in 2001 and 2014, Bogue Inlet in 2005, Barden Inlet in 2006, and Rich Inlet (Nixon Channel) 7 times between 1983 and 2011. More recently, Mason Inlet was mined in 2005, 2009, 2011, 2012-2013 and early 2016. Oregon Inlet was mined in 2013. New River Inlet was mined in 2012-13 as part of an inlet channel relocation project. New Topsail Inlet was mined in 2012 and 2015. The most recent project plans for the federal and local Carolina and Kure Beach Coastal Storm Damage Reduction Projects identify Carolina Beach Inlet as a primary sediment source; sediment dredged from the inlet has been placed periodically on Carolina Beach for storm damage reduction since the 1960s, but the latest plans identify the primary purpose of the dredging as mining of beach fill rather than navigation (USFWS 2016b). Similarly, the most recent project plans for the federal and local Wrightsville Beach Coastal Storm Damage Reduction Project identify the primary purpose of dredging Masonboro Inlet as mining of beach fill rather than navigation; sediment removed from the inlet has been used as beach fill on Wrightsville Beach since 1962 (USFWS 2016c).

Sixteen (80%) inlets have been or continue to be periodically dredged for navigation or erosion control purposes to redirect channels away from buildings or infrastructure in North Carolina, including the 10 listed above as having been mined for fill material.

Proposed and Anticipated Habitat Modifications In the first half of 2016, Beaufort Inlet and Lockwood Folly Inlet have been or were scheduled to be dredged. Carolina Beach Inlet was mined for beach fill on Carolina Beach (USFWS 2016c). Mason Inlet was mined and relocated a third time in January 2016 (Errante 2015). New River Inlet has been proposed to be relocated a second time in 2016 or 2017; Onslow County would also receive authority to maintenance dredge the federally-maintained inlet and nearby channels, deepening the navigation channel through the inlet by two feet (Town of North Topsail Beach 2015a, USACE 2015l, USFWS 2015d). The Town of Topsail Beach is working with the USACE to expand allowable dredging areas in and around New Topsail Inlet that are located within the federal Coastal Barrier Resources System (Talton 2016a).

In late 2013 the USACE and NPS issued a draft DMMP for dredging of the federal channel that passes through Beaufort Inlet to Morehead City Harbor. The proposed DMMP includes a new disposal area for sediment dredged from the inlet on Shackleford Banks to the east, which is part of Cape Lookout NS, and a second new nearshore disposal site offshore Shackleford Banks on or near the ebb tidal delta of the inlet (USACE 2013o).

In 2011 the North Carolina state legislature revised the decades-long ban on hard shoreline stabilization structures to allow up to four terminal groins to be constructed at inlets in the state. One such terminal groin was recently completed on Bald Head Island on the east side of the Cape Fear River inlet, and three others are in the permitting process to construct terminal groins at Rich Inlet on Figure Eight Island, at Lockwoods Folly Inlet on Holden Beach, and at Shallotte Inlet on Ocean Isle Beach (Talton 2016b; USACE 2014o, 2015j, 2015k, 2015m, 2016e and 2016k; USFWS 2015c, 2016a). In 2015 the state legislature further revised the existing hard shoreline stabilization legislation to allow two additional terminal groins at Bogue Inlet and New

River Inlet, but neither of the two communities (Emerald Isle and North Topsail Beach respectively) had proposed the construction of terminal groins as of early 2016.

A sandbag revetment initially constructed in 2007 near the east side of Tubbs Inlet, on a private property in Ocean Isle Beach, was expanded in 2009 but remained set back from the inlet shoreline. By 2012 the inlet had shifted position to the east and the revetment was directly on the inlet shoreline. The state permit for the sandbag revetment expired in 2014 but the revetment was not removed and remains directly on the inlet shoreline. The private property owner requested and received a permit variance and an expansion of the revetment, doubling it in height, in July 2016 (Gona 2016, USFWS 2016d).

Private sandbag revetments have been constructed on Figure Eight Island and Ocean Isle near but not directly on the south side of Rich Inlet and the west side of Shallotte Inlet respectively. If either of the two inlets shift significantly in position, those revetments could modify the inlet shorelines in the future.

Recent studies forecast that the North Carolina Outer Banks will continue to see a series of new inlets open as sea level rises and climate changes (Riggs and Ames 2003, Mallinson et al. 2008), which has been exhibited by the opening of a number of inlets and breaches at Pea Island NWR (1 large and 2 small breaches in 2011), Rodanthe (1 in 2011), Hatteras (1 in 2003 plus a periodic breach to a pond at Cape Point) and Cape Lookout NS (1 in 2005, 1 in 2012, 2 in 2015) in the last 13 years.

Summary by U.S. Atlantic Coast Piping Plover Breeding Range Recovery Unit

The U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover is divided into three recovery units: New England, New York – New Jersey, and Southern. The number of tidal inlets in the New England Recovery Unit is significantly higher than the other two recovery units because inlets are far more numerous, although generally smaller, north of Montauk, NY (Table 3). Barrier islands are rare north of Montauk, NY, with a few exceptions in Massachusetts. Tidal inlets are often found at coastal ponds or creek / river mouths. South of Montauk, NY, along the Atlantic Ocean shorelines of NY, NJ, DE, MD, VA and NC, the shoreline is dominated by barrier islands and spits. Tidal inlets are fewer and farther between along this barrier island-dominated shoreline, and they tend to be larger than the tidal inlets found in New England or along Long Island Sound or the Peconic Estuary of NY.

In the New England Recovery Unit of the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover (from ME to CT), 17 inlets opened between 2012 and 2015, including 2 opened during Hurricane Sandy (Table 1). Six (6) additional inlets were identified with improved imagery sources that were not identified in Rice (2015a). Sixteen (16) inlets closed between 2012 and 2015, including 2 closed by Hurricane Sandy. Three (3) inlets in CT were lost when the spits or islets on which they were located eroded or submerged. The number of tidal inlets open in 2015 thus increased by 4 over the number open in 2012 (Table 3; Rice 2015d). In 2015, 68% (152 of 223) of the tidal inlets had been modified, the same proportion as had been modified prior to Hurricane Sandy (Rice 2015d). The number of inlets modified by hard structures increased by 1

32 between 2012 and 2015 due to the artificial reopening of Stewart’s Creek in MA, which has both a jetty and a groin. The artificial opening of Stewart’s Creek (MA) also increased the number of inlets modified by dredging between 2012 and 2015 by one. The number of inlets that have been relocated increased by 1 as well, with new information regarding the periodic artificial opening of Goshen Cove in CT between the jetties to the east of its natural location in the past. In 2012, 21 inlets were known to have been artificially opened in the New England Recovery Unit; in 2015 this number increased to 26, with 3 of the artificially opened inlets located in MA and 1 each in ME and CT. No new inlets were artificially closed within the New England Recovery Unit between 2012 and 2015.

In the New York-New Jersey Recovery Unit, 30 new inlets opened between 2012 and 2015, including 24 opened during Hurricane Sandy (Table 1). Twenty-four (24) inlets closed during the same time period, for a net increase of 6 inlets in NY and NJ from 144 to 150. Of the three recovery units within the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover, the inlets located in the NY-NJ Recovery Unit were most modified in 2015 at 73% (109 of 150; Table 3). This is a slight decrease to the proportion of inlets that were modified prior to Hurricane Sandy, when 76% of the inlets (109 of 144) had been modified in at least one way (Rice 2015d). The proportional decrease is due to the opening of several new inlets since 2012 that have not been modified along both the Peconic Estuary and Atlantic Ocean shorelines of New York. The apparent increase in the number of inlets in NY and NJ (from 73 to 80) that have been dredged is due to new information sources documenting historical dredging of 6 inlets, with only 1 inlet (Downs Creek on the Peconic Estuary of NY) newly modified by dredging between 2012 and

Table 3. The number of open tidal inlets, inlet modifications, and artificially closed inlets in each Recovery Unit of the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover prior in 2015.

Inlets Open in 2015 Total Habitat Modification Type Recovery Number Artificially Number closed Unit of Artificially of Inlets structures† dredged relocated mined Modified opened‡ Inlets New 223 152 140 80 3 3 26 15 England NY - NJ 150 109 91 80 3 13 14 14

Southern 39 20 11 20 5 13 5 15

281 242 180 11 29 45 44 TOTAL 412 (68%) (59%) (44%) (3%) (7%) (11%) (n/a) † Structures include jetties, terminal groins, groin fields, rock or sandbag revetments, seawalls, and offshore breakwaters. ‡ Thirteen additional inlets in MA, three additional inlets in RI, one on the NY Atlantic coast, one in MD, and one in NC have been artificially created but were not open in 2015.

2015. The artificial opening of a new outlet for Downs Creek on the Peconic Estuary of NY increased the number of inlets modified by artificial opening in the recovery unit by 1 to 14. The number of inlets artificially closed in NY and NJ increased by 5, from 9 to 14, with the artificial closure of 5 inlets or breaches opened by Hurricane Sandy on the South Shore of Long Island and in Mantaloking, NJ.

In the Southern Recovery Unit (from DE to NC), 17 new inlets opened between 2012 and 2015, including 7 opened by Hurricane Sandy (Table 1). Fourteen (14) inlets closed during the same time period, including 1 closed during Hurricane Sandy. In 2015, the number of inlets open in the Southern Recovery Unit of the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover increased by 3 to 39 from the 36 that were open in 2012 prior to Hurricane Sandy. While the tidal inlets in the Southern Recovery Unit are the least modified of the three recovery units, more than half of the tidal inlet habitat within the unit were modified in 2015 (51%, or 20 of 39 inlets). This is a slight decrease from the number of inlets in the recovery unit that had been modified prior to Hurricane Sandy, when 21 of 36 tidal inlets, or 58%, had been modified (Rice 2015d). The number of inlets modified by hard structures increased by 1 with the shifting of Tubbs Inlet in NC, exposing a sandbag revetment on the inlet shoulder that had previously been setback from the inlet shoreline. One new inlet channel in NC (New River Inlet) was relocated between 2012 and 2015, increasing the number of inlets in the recovery unit modified by relocation from 4 to 5, all of them in NC. The number of inlets modified by sediment mining increased by 7 between 2012 and 2015, with new documentation of past mining at 4 inlets and new mining of 3 inlets in NC. No new inlets were artificially opened or closed in the Southern Recovery Unit between 2012 and 2015.

DISCUSSION

Over two-thirds (68%) of the 412 sandy tidal inlet habitats from Georgetown, Maine, to North Carolina that were open in 2015 have been modified within the last century or so by human actions, such as the construction of hard stabilization structures, dredging activities, sediment mining, and the artificial opening and closing of inlets (Table 2). The southern Massachusetts coast is the most contiguously modified, with all 23 inlets from Chatham (Stage) Harbor to the Trunk River modified by hard structures and/or dredging (Table B-3). Connecticut also has a section of coast with numerous contiguous inlets modified, with 22 modified inlets from Mile Creek in New London to Milford Harbor at the Indian River (Table B-5). There are only 2 unmodified inlets out of 23 from Montauk, NY, to Chincoteague, VA – one within Fire Island NS (NY) that was opened by Hurricane Sandy and one with the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR (NJ).

In contrast, the highest number of contiguous inlets that are not modified is 15, all on the Eastern Shore of Virginia (Table B-12). The next highest number of contiguous inlets that are not modified is 10, all on Shelter Island within The Nature Conservancy’s Mashomack Preserve, in the Peconic Estuary of New York (Table B-7). There are 4 contiguous inlets in Maine that are not modified, along with 7 on the Cape Cod Bay shoreline of Cape Cod NS in Massachusetts (Table B-3). The only other significant section of shoreline with no modified inlets is the 4 inlets east of Narragansett Bay from Tunipus Pond Inlet, to Gardiner Pond Inlet, Rhode Island (Table

B-4). Throughout the rest of the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range, 2 to 3 contiguous inlets that are not modified is more typical.

The adverse direct and indirect impacts of hard stabilization structures, dredging, inlet relocations and mining can be significant and were described in Rice (2014) and Rice (2015a). The impacts that jetties have on inlet and adjacent shoreline habitat have been described by Leatherman (1989), Dean (1993), Bush et al. (1996, 2001, 2004), Cleary and Marden (1999), Seabergh et al. (2003), Wamsley and Kraus (2005), Kraus (2006), Thomas et al. (2011) and many others. The maintenance of navigation channels by dredging can significantly alter the natural coastal processes on adjacent inlet shorelines, as described by Leatherman (1989), Dean (1993), Kraus (2006), Otvos (2006), Morton (2008), Otvos and Carter (2008), Beck and Wang (2009), and Stockdon et al. (2010). Cialone and Stauble (1998) describe the impacts of mining ebb shoals within inlets as a source of beach fill material and provide a recommended monitoring protocol for future mining events; Dabees and Kraus (2008) also describe the impacts of ebb shoal mining. The physical impacts of inlet stabilization, dredging and mining all impact the quality and quantity of tidal inlet habitat available to shorebirds and all wildlife that rely upon inlet habitats, including the piping plover.

The relocation of inlets or the artificial creation of new inlets often leads to immediate widening of the new inlet cut and loss of adjacent habitat, among other impacts; these responses have been described by Mason and Sorenson (1971), Masterson et al. (1973), USACE (1992), Cleary and Marden (1999), Cleary and Fitzgerald (2003), Erickson et al. (2003), Kraus et al. (2003), Kraus (2006), Wamsley and Kraus (2005) and Kraus (2007). In the northeastern U.S., the majority of artificially created inlets are the result of mechanical breaching of coastal ponds. At least 11 coastal ponds in MA and at least 9 in RI have been or continue to be artificially breached by mechanical means (Rice 2015a). Most of these ponds are breached several times a year, depending on whether and when they breach naturally.

The cumulative effects of the habitat modifications to sandy tidal inlets within the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover are significant. Between Georgetown, ME, and NC, 68% of the inlets and their associated habitats have been modified. The cumulative environmental consequences are adverse, major and long-term. Fenster and Dolan (1996) found that the barrier island inlets of Virginia and northern North Carolina dominate coastal processes and adjacent island shorelines up to 2.5 – 3.1 miles (4 – 5 km) away and influence adjacent shorelines for up to 3.7 – 8.1 miles (6 – 13 km). Kraus (2006) states that the impacts of jetties on adjacent shorelines may extend for several kilometers. Batten and Kraus (2006) identified the downdrift impacts of the dual jetty system and dredging of the Federal navigation channel at Mattituck Inlet on the North Shore of Long Island extends for 1.81 miles (2.91 km) east of the inlet, with higher rates of erosion closer to the inlet. The environmental consequences from human modifications of inlets therefore can extend on the order of several miles (or kilometers) from each inlet depending on the size of the inlet and its adjacent geologic setting (i.e., barrier island or lengthy spit as is more common south of Montauk, NY, versus nearby rocky headlands or bluffs as is more common north of Montauk, NY).

Using an estimated extent of influence of 2.5 to 8.1 miles (4 to 13 km) of shoreline on either side of an inlet located on a shoreline dominated by barrier islands, the 60 inlets from Montauk, NY,

35 south could influence 300 to 972 miles (482 to 1,564 km) of adjacent beach habitat. Because a number of those 60 inlets are less than 8.1 miles (13 km) apart and because there are only about 740 miles (1,191 km) of beach habitat south of Montauk, however, the average extent of inlet influence on beach habitat is probably closer to 2.5 miles (4 km) than 8.1 miles (13 km). Out of the 60 inlets south of Montauk, 39 of them have been modified by human activities as of 2015. Using a conservative average estimate of 2.5 miles (4 km) for the range of influence an inlet has on adjacent coastal processes and beaches, those 39 modified inlets could be impacting at least 195 of the 740 miles (314 of 1,191 km), or 26%, of the beach habitat available to nesting shorebirds from the South Shore of Long Island through NC.

If the range of impact that jetties or dredging an inlet has on adjacent shorelines extends an estimated 1.81 miles (2.91 km) downdrift of inlets7 located north of Montauk, of which there are about 150 modified by jetties and/or dredging, then the magnitude of the impact of those inlet modifications could reach 271.5 miles (436.9 km) of adjacent downdrift beach habitat; this estimated impact does not include any updrift impacts resulting from jetty or dredging modifications. This represents an impact to at least 30% of the ~906 miles (1,458 km) of beach habitat north of Montauk, NY. These conservative estimates illustrate that the impacts of human modifications to tidal inlets has had a major, adverse and long-term impact on fish and wildlife habitat (both inlet and sandy beach) in the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover.

The cumulative impacts of dredging nearly half of all the tidal inlets within the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover as of 2015 are significant. Dredging volumes for inlets on the Mid-Atlantic or South Atlantic coastlines (south of Montauk, NY) tend to be in the tens to hundreds of thousands of cubic yards, and may reach well over 1 million cubic yards when the inlet is being mined for beach fill (Rice 2014). The volumes of sediment dredged and removed from inlets in the Northeast tend to be lower, on the order of thousands or tens of thousands of cubic yards, (Rice 2012a, 2014). Although the volumes of sediment dredged from northeastern inlets may be an order of magnitude smaller than the volumes dredged from inlets farther south on the Atlantic coast, the number of inlets that have been dredged is much higher in the northeast. One-hundred and forty-three (143) of the 352 inlets north of Montauk, NY, or 41%, have been modified by dredging as of 2015, as compared to 39 of the 60 inlets (65%) located south of Montauk.

The artificial opening and closing of inlets modifies inlet habitat in the most extreme manner, resulting in the artificial conversion of habitat types and alteration of their abundance and distribution. A significant number of inlets (64, 45 of which were open in 2015) have been artificially created between Georgetown, ME, and NC (Table 2). These artificially created inlets tend to need hard structures to remain open or stable, with 32 of the 45 (71%) of them having hard structures in 2015. At least 48 inlets have been artificially closed, at least 17 of them since the piping plover was listed as a threatened species in 1986; artificial closure of inlets results in complete loss of inlet habitat for not only shorebirds but aquatic species as well.

The most significant inlet to have been opened by Hurricane Sandy that was still open in 2015 is the one located within the Fire Island NS. Two nearby inlets or breaches opened during

7 As identified for Mattituck Inlet along the Long Island Sound shoreline of NY by Beck and Kraus (2006).

Hurricane Sandy were quickly closed under a state and federal Breach Contingency Plan. Initial proposals were made to artificially close the Fire Island NS inlet/breach as well; historically concerns have been expressed about new inlets potentially increasing flooding on the main Long Island shoreline behind Fire Island. Aretxabaleta et al. (2014) monitored Barnegat Bay in NJ and Great South Bay in NY following Hurricane Sandy, which breached the barrier islands seaward of both bays. The monitoring found that “high water levels that occurred in the months following Sandy [in both bay systems] were a result of offshore high sea level associated with a series of winter storms” and not due to the new breaches and inlets created by the hurricane (all but one of which was artificially closed within two months of the storm) (Aretxabaleta et al. 2014, p. 3164). Concerns regarding adverse impacts to mainland flooding resulting from new inlets or breaches on barrier islands thus have not proven true. The National Park Service is currently developing a Breach Management Plan for the Fire Island NS inlet/breach.

The long-term sustainability of tidal inlet habitats along the U.S. Atlantic coast relies upon the natural opening and closing of inlets and breaches as sea level rises, and the artificial closure of or prevention of new inlets or breaches should be carefully and fully evaluated on a case-by-case basis. When a barrier spit, baymouth bar, or barrier island is breached by a new inlet or storm channel, sediment is deposited on the bayside of the spit or island and flood tidal shoals are deposited if the inlet or breach remains open after the storm. These deposits create an elevated platform onto which the barrier island or spit can migrate with rising sea level, similar to the bayside deposits that overwash may create on the backside of barrier spits or islands that facilitate an island’s ability to adapt to rising sea level (Magliocca et al. 2011). Tanski (2012) states that along the South Shore of Long Island, inlets are the primary means for moving sediment landward and facilitating barrier island migration. If the inlet migrates or closes, the flood tidal shoals may be welded to the bayside of the barrier spit or island, they may evolve into bayside flats that provide foraging habitat for shorebirds and waterbirds, or they may become colonized by salt marsh or submerged aquatic vegetation, both of which are valuable habitat types to a variety of fish and wildlife resources. When a new inlet or breach is artificially closed, which tends to be within days or weeks of formation, these bayside sediment deposits are not allowed to develop and fish and wildlife resources are impacted by a lost opportunity for new habitat in a highly dynamic coastal environment with rising sea levels. Cohen et al. (2009, p. 1) found “Restoring nesting habitat adjacent to bayside intertidal flats may increase the carrying capacity (nesting pairs) at piping plover breeding sites.” The bayside intertidal flats located in the Cohen et al. (2009) study area were on Long Island where two storm breaches were artificially closed, but not immediately; the breaches were open for several months before they were closed artificially, allowing flood tidal shoals to develop and evolve into bayside intertidal flats after the breaches were closed.

The dredging of navigation channels or to relocate inlet channels for erosion control purposes also contributes to the cumulative effects by removing or redistributing the local and regional sediment supply; the maintenance dredging of deep ship channels can convert a natural inlet that normally bypasses sediment from one shoreline to the other into a sediment sink in which sediment no longer bypasses the inlet. Cialone and Stauble (1998, p. 539) state that “Any removal of sand from an inlet system lowers the elevation of that portion of the system, resulting in a flow of sand to restore local equilibrium.” Dean (1993) also found that the dredging of deepened navigational channels causes erosion on adjacent shorelines and faster deposition

37 within the dredged channel; the alteration of one element that contributes to an inlet’s equilibrium will affect all the other elements and disrupt the dynamic equilibrium. At Mattituck Inlet on Long Island’s North Shore, Batten and Kraus (2006, p. xiii) found that “the Federal navigation project at Mattituck Inlet caused a 94 percent reduction in average annual longshore sediment transport between 1906 and 1950, and a 58 percent reduction between 1950 and 2004. Total volume loss attributable to the [Mattituck Inlet] Federal navigation project was estimated at 1,063,000 cu yd [cubic yards] (± 238,000 cu yd).” The net loss of sediment to downdrift beaches after volumes removed by commercial mining of the updrift jetty fillet, loss to offshore via natural processes, and placement of dredged material on adjacent beaches are accounted for was estimated to be 493,000 cy (± 216,000 cy; Batten and Kraus 2006). Batten and Kraus (2006) recommend these downdrift impacts could be mitigated by continuing the current practice of bypassing dredged material to downdrift beaches with additional bypassing of material from the updrift jetty fillet annually or once every 8 to 10 years in conjunction with supplemental dredging of the flood tidal shoals at the inlet.

Kraus (2006) describes how inlet equilibrium can be so unbalanced due to the construction of jetties or inlet relocation that the ebb shoal can collapse. “Maintenance of coastal inlet navigation channels and the adjacent beaches brings conflicting requirements. For example, jetties are built in part to confine and strengthen the current, but the resultant seaward translation of the ebb shoal interrupts natural sediment bypassing. In turn, interruption of the natural bypassing rates and pathways compromise the integrity of the adjacent beaches, with potential feedback to destabilize the jetties and inlet navigation channel” (Kraus 2006, p. 10).

Of the dredged inlets within the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover, dredging efforts began as early as 1803 and continue to the present, generating long-term and even permanent effects on inlet habitat; at least 19 inlets have been dredged since the 1800s and mechanical pond breaching of numerous inlets in Rhode Island and Massachusetts has occurred since the early 1600s (Lee 1980). Dredging is typically conducted annually or every 2 to 5 years, which results in continual perturbations and modifications to inlet and adjacent shoreline habitat. Kraus (2006, p. 11) notes that “inlet morphology evolves over decades to centuries, and shoal development and change can be complex. Thus, the consequences of modifications to an existing inlet may not be noted for many years.”

The mining of inlet shoals in the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover is more common in the southern part of the range than the northern part, particularly along the Atlantic Ocean coasts of NY, NJ and NC (Rice 2012a, 2014). Twenty-four (24) of the 29 inlets (83%) that have been mined for sediment are located south of Montauk, NY. Since Hurricane Sandy, at least 18 inlets were mined specifically for fill material and 3 others had large amounts of dredged material beneficially placed on nearby beaches. In addition, Mattituck and Flax Pond Inlets on the North Shore of Long Island were commercially mined for sand and gravel for several decades, as was the inner channels of Mt. Sinai Harbor (Morgan et al. 2005, Batten and Kraus 2006, Town of Brookhaven 2006, Abrams et al. 2008). Mining of inlets for commercial sale results in an instantaneous and permanent sediment loss to the system. Batten and Kraus (2006, p. 91) found that the mining of the Mattituck Inlet channel and impoundment fillet at the west jetty removed between 443,000 and 903,000 cy of sediment from the system, a volume loss “equal to, and potentially greater than, the volume of material eroded from the downdrift beach”

38 due to the dual jetty system and dredging of the Federal navigation channel at the inlet. As sea level continues to rise and climate changes, more inlets from ME to NC may be proposed for mining for beach fill to protect development and infrastructure. Since 2012, three new inlets in NC were mined for beach fill that had not previously been modified in this way. Two additional inlets have been proposed for mining, including the last unmodified inlet in NJ.

The hard stabilization of inlets is another contributor to the appreciable cumulative adverse effects to inlet habitat along the coast from Georgetown, ME, to NC. The construction of jetties, groins, seawalls and revetments leads to habitat loss and both direct and indirect impacts to adjacent shorelines. Several inlets in this assessment have hard stabilization structures along their entire inlet shorelines, eliminating all sandy beach habitat from their inlet shoulders. Habitat modifications resulting from the construction of hard structures are long-term and essentially permanent where the structures are maintained in perpetuity; at least 26 inlets have hard structures that are a century old or more.

Even without jetties at an inlet, adjacent development may affect inlets. Nordstrom (1988) found that inlets were less mobile when the adjacent shorelines are developed than those that were undeveloped. At the four unjettied inlets Nordstrom (1988) analyzed in New Jersey, he found that the inlets are naturally cyclical in their erosion and accretion patterns. Maintenance dredging can stabilize the channel position and suppress the natural inlet cycle where the ebb channel is allowed to fluctuate widely. Bulkheads, groins (including terminal groins) and beach fill projects on adjacent developed areas can prevent breaches updrift of the inlets, alter erosion and accretion patterns and diminish the magnitude of the inlet cycle as well.

In New England, the construction and development of the Cape Cod Canal led to the closure of the nearby Scusset Mill Creek Inlet in Sagamore in the early 1900s (FitzGerald 1993). Dredging of the Saco River in Maine with dredged material placement on the shoreline to the north increased the sediment supply to the adjacent beaches and was partially responsible for the closure of Little River Inlet, accretion and subsequent development of Pine Point, the filling and narrowing of the Scarborough River Inlet, and the subsequent need to stabilize the Scarborough River Inlet with a jetty and dredging (FitzGerald et al. 1989, Kelley et al. 1989, EPA 1995).

Most inlets that have been modified are modified in multiple ways. Dean (1993) noted that the erosional losses and channel shoaling issues resulting from dredged channels can be ameliorated by terminal structures on the inlet shorelines such as breakwaters or by terminal groins and jetty modifications. “The installation of a terminal structure on the updrift side of the entrance is always beneficial to dredging interests and the stability of the updrift shorelines, but is always detrimental to the stability of the downdrift shorelines” (Dean 1993, pp. 208-9). One inlet modification (dredging) thus can lead to additional modifications (hard stabilization). Buonaiuto et al. (2008) found that the direct impacts of stabilization and dredging of Shinnecock Inlet on Long Island’s South Shore in New York will persist for nearly 150 years and possibly longer; after 68 years (as of 2008) of hard stabilization and dredging at the inlet, the ebb shoal has only reached ~60% of its estimated equilibrium volume and will take another 75 years to reach full equilibrium, longer if the ebb shoal is mined or dredged.

The effects of inlet modifications are on-going, cumulative, and increasing in intensity, as hard structures continue to be or were proposed to be built or repaired in the three years after Hurricane Sandy, although the construction of new tidal inlets with jetties is rare (Kraus 2006, Watts et al. 2011). Kraus (2006, p. 1) notes that the jetties built at many of the larger inlets in the U.S. were built around the turn of the 20th century when the coast was “far from infrastructure and development … so consideration of the beaches adjacent to the inlets was minimal.” “As coastlines have become more developed, … environmental and engineering consequences for new or modified inlets have never been greater” (Kraus 2006, p. 1). With sea level rising and global climate change altering storm dynamics, the pressure to further modify the sandy tidal inlets in this area will only increase. Thus, the adaptation management strategies recommended by the USFWS climate change strategy (USFWS 2010), CCSP (2009), Williams and Gutierrez (2009), Pilkey and Young (2009), and many others will increasingly be difficult to implement.

The USFWS Strategic Plan for Responding to Accelerating Climate Change calls for the National Wildlife Refuge System to play “a role in ensuring habitat connectivity and conserving key landscapes and populations of fish and wildlife” (USFWS 2010, p. 13). The conservation of coastal and marine resources is a specific objective of the USFWS’s strategy. The Edwin B. Forsythe NWR has conserved the least modified suite of tidal inlet and sandy beach habitats in the state of New Jersey, much of it federally-designated wilderness. Yet a proposal is currently under review to mine and/or dredge the only unmodified inlet in the state, which is surrounded by the refuge, for large volumes of sediment to use as beach fill on nearby Long Beach Island. If the inlet is mined, the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR will be less able to contribute to conserving habitat connectivity and key habitats in the already heavily modified NJ coastal landscape.

“Adaptation forms the core of the Service’s response to climate change and is the centerpiece of our Strategic Plan” (USFWS 2010, p. 14). One such type of adaptation is “to manage toward future, and often less certain, landscape conditions by predicting and working with the effects of climate change. Response adaptation options facilitate the transition of ecosystems from current, natural states to new conditions brought about by a changing climate” (USFWS 2010, p. 16). At Chincoteague NWR in Virginia, a large inlet was opened by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Several small inlets at Toms Cove Hook in the refuge periodically open and close to drain lagoons or ponds. These inlets were not artificially closed, but allowed to close naturally. The Chincoteague NWR adapted to the formation and closure of inlets and breaches, facilitating the natural cycle of storm-induced habitat modifications during a period of rising sea level when storms may become more frequent and/or intense. If there had been pressure to artificially close the inlet opened by Hurricane Sandy, the refuge would have been less able to implement the climate change adaptation strategies of the USFWS.

Williams and Gutierrez (2009) advise that maintaining the position of the shoreline with hard structures, such as the jetties and seawalls / revetments / bulkheads that stabilize 242 of the 412 tidal inlets open in 2015, will become more difficult with accelerated sea level rise, and may not be environmentally or economically sustainable in the long-term. Following Hurricane Sandy, a number of hard structures were repaired and rehabilitated at tidal inlets; none were removed as a means of adapting to climate change and rising seas. Both Williams and Gutierrez (2009) and Pilkey and Young (2009) advise relocation of infrastructure to higher elevations and conversion of low-lying developed areas to open-space conservation and recreation areas as an adaptation

40 strategy to sea level rise that could exceed 1 m (3.3 ft) by 2100. The continued maintenance of modified tidal inlets in place and the quick closure of new inlets that open during storms prevent the adaptation of tidal inlet and beach systems to rising sea levels, resulting in areas (including shorebird nesting areas) that are more vulnerable to flooding in future storms instead of more resilient to inundation.

The cumulative effects of the existing habitat modifications to 282 of the 412 inlets, as described in this assessment, should be addressed in current and future proposals that would affect sandy tidal inlets within the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover between Georgetown, ME, and NC. Rising sea level and climate change are likely to continue to increase the number of inlets in the near future. Since the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding population of piping plover was listed as a threatened species in 1986, at least 121 tidal inlets have opened in its breeding range. Ninety-three (93) of these inlets opened naturally and 28 were opened artificially. Of the 93 tidal inlets that opened naturally, more than half (54 of 93, or 58%) were opened during Hurricane Sandy or the three years since the storm. Whether new inlets will provide additional favorable habitat to the piping plover and other wildlife, however, will depend on the human responses to their formation and whether decisions will be made to close or modify an inlet or allow natural processes to operate. Between 1986 and 2015, at least 107 tidal inlets and breaches have closed – 90 naturally and 17+ artificially – in the U.S. Atlantic Coast breeding range of the piping plover. Of the 90 inlets and breaches that have closed naturally since 1986, 51 of them (57%) closed during or within 3 years of Hurricane Sandy. The 5 breaches or inlets that were artificially closed after Hurricane Sandy opened them represent a lost opportunity for new inlet habitat for shorebirds and other wildlife resources. Opportunities exist, however, to restore and/or mitigate adverse impacts to existing inlets through the removal of hard structures, elimination of dredging and mining activities, reducing the frequency of dredging cycles, the beneficial use of dredged material and the restoration of artificially closed inlets.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to the following individuals who reviewed this paper and provided helpful comments: Megan Tyrrell, Anne Hecht, Pam Denmon, Kevin Holcomb, Kathryn Matthews, Kate Iaquinto, Kate O’Brien, Susi von Oettingen and Wendy Walsh with the USFWS; Michael Bilecki and Lindsay Ries with the NPS; Janet Freedman with Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council; Laura Saucier with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; Christina Davis with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; Todd Pover with the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey; Ruth Boettcher with Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries; Alex Wilke with The Nature Conservancy; and Lindsay Addison with North Carolina Audubon.

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USACE. 2012b. Maintenance Dredging of the Federal Navigation Project in the Housatonic River, Stratford and Milford, Connecticut. 30 Day Public Notice, August 15, 2012. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 6 p.

USACE. 2012c. Application for dredging with ten years maintenance with beach nourishment. Accabonac harbor, Gardiner’s Bay, Suffolk County, New York. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2012-00042-ESP. June 7, 2012. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 11 p.

USACE. 2012d. Application for maintenance dredging of Spring Pond Channel. Town of Southold, Suffolk County, New York. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2011-00745-EST. February 6, 2012. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 12 p.

USACE. 2012e. Application for dredging with ten years maintenance with beach nourishment. Dickerson Creek, Shelter Island, Suffolk County, New York. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2011-01446-EST. February 29, 2012. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 11 p.

USACE. 2013a. Maintenance Dredging of the Federal Navigation Project in the Scarborough River, Scarborough, Maine. 30 Day Public Notice, May 20, 2013. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 6 p.

USACE. 2013b. Maintenance Dredging of the 8-foot Channel of the Federal Navigation Project in the Kennebunk River, Kennebunk & Kennebunkport, Maine. 30 Day Public Notice, September 30, 2013. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 7 p.

USACE. 2013c. Maintenance Dredging of the Federal Navigation Project in Hyannis Harbor, Hyannis, Massachusetts. 30 Day Public Notice, April 2, 2013. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 7 p.

USACE. 2013d. Application by the Town of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts, to Modify Permit NAE-2009- 01128 to Dredge Sengekontacket Pond at Little Bridge. 15 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAE-2009-01128, December 17, 2013. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 11 p.

USACE. 2013e. Breakwater Rehabilitation, Sag Harbor, New York, Federal Navigation Project. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. SAG HARBOR, May 8, 2013. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 5 p.

USACE. 2013f. Application by the Town of Gosnold, Cuttyhunk Island, Massachusetts, to Excavate an Opening between Westend Pond and Buzzards Bay. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice NAE- 2010-938, December 10, 2013. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 9 p.

USACE. 2013g. Draft Environmental Assessment, Barnegat Inlet to Little Egg Inlet (Long Beach Island), New Jersey, Storm Damage Reduction Project. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District, Philadelphia, PA. 75 p. Available at

http://www.nap.usace.army.mil/Portals/39/docs/Civil/LBI/LBI_EA_BOEMBEC_Nov2013.pdf. Accessed July 17, 2014.

USACE. 2013h. Application by the Town of Falmouth to Dredge Green Pond Channel and Waquoit Channel, Falmouth, Massachusetts. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAE-2010-145, November 12, 2013. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 11 p.

USACE. 2013i. “Army Corps Responds to Hurricane Sandy: Corps Carries Out Emergency Response Missions Throughout New York/New Jersey Region.” New York District Times. Newsletter of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District. Special Hurricane Sandy Edition. New York, NY. 16 p.

USACE. 2013j. Town of Chatham Comprehensive Dredging & Disposal Project, Chatham, Massachusetts. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAE-2011-488, April 30, 2013. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 48 p.

USACE. 2013k. Application by the Suffolk County Department of Public Works for Dredging of Meetinghouse Creek with 10 Years Maintenance, Beach Nourishment and Upland Disposal, Village of Aquebogue, Town of Riverhead, Suffolk County, NY. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2011-01142-EST, August 13, 2013. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 12 p.

USACE. 2013l. Maintenance Dredging with Shoreline Placement, Jones Inlet, New York, Federal Navigation Project. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. JONES INLET 2013, May 3, 2013. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 5 p.

USACE. 2013m. Jetty Rehabilitation, Jones Inlet, New York, Federal Navigation Project. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. JONES INLET, NEW YORK, JETTY REHABILITATION 2013, May 9, 2013. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 4 p.

USACE. 2013n. Delaware Coast Protection Project, Flood Control and Coastal Emergency Repair, Indian River Inlet North Shore, Sussex County, Delaware. Public Notice No. CENAP-PL-E-13- 01, March 25, 2013. Philadelphia District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, PA. 10 p.

USACE. 2013o. Morehead City Harbor, Morehead City, NC, Draft Integrated Dredged Material Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement. Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, NC. 339 p. + appendices.

USACE. 2013p. Public Notice of an Emergency Permit for North Carolina Department of Transportation Oregon Inlet Dredging, Dare County, NC. 17 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. SAW-2013-02272, December 6, 2013. Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, NC. 2 p.

USACE. 2013q. Town of Topsail Beach Beach Nourishment Project, Pender County, NC. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. SAW-2013-00404, May 1, 2013. Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, NC. 10 p.

USACE. 2013r. Application by the Suffolk County Department of Public Works for Dredging of East Creek with 10 Years Maintenance and Beach Nourishment, Hamlet of Jamesport, Town of

Riverhead, Suffolk County, NY. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2013-00021- EBO, July 10, 2013. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 10 p.

USACE. 2013s. Jetty Rehabilitation, East Rockaway Inlet, New York, Federal Navigation Project. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. EAST ROCKAWAY INLET, NEW YORK, JETTY REHABILITATION 2013, May 9, 2013. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 4 p.

USACE. 2013t. Shark River, New Jersey, Federal Navigation Project Maintenance Dredging. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. SHARK RIVER FY013/14, October 11, 2013. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 5 p.

USACE. 2013u. Masonboro Inlet, NC (Shallow Draft Navigation) (O&M) Fact Sheet. Dated April 8, 2013. Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, NC. 2 p.

USACE. 2014a. Maintenance Dredging of the Federal Navigation Project in Cohasset Harbor, Cohasset and Scituate, Massachusetts. 30 Day Public Notice, March 5, 2014. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 7 p.

USACE. 2014b. Maintenance Dredging of the Federal Navigation Project in Menemsha Creek, Chilmark & Aquinnah, Massachusetts. 30 Day Public Notice, June 6, 2014. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 6 p.

USACE. 2014c. Application for Maintenance Dredging and Beach Nourishment of Several Sites in the Town of Edgartown, Massachusetts. Revised Public Notice NAE-2011-1511, May 27, 2014. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 11 p.

USACE. 2014d. Federal Maintenance of East and West Jetty, Nantucket Harbor, Nantucket, Massachusetts. 30 Day Public Notice, November 17, 2014. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 6 p.

USACE. 2014e. Camp Cronin Revetment, Point Judith Harbor of Refuge, Narragansett, Rhode Island. 30 Day Public Notice, February 21, 2014. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 6 p.

USACE. 2014f. Amendment – Maintenance Dredging of the Guilford Harbor Federal Navigation Project, Guilford, Rhode Island. 15 Day Public Notice, July 1, 2014. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 8 p.

USACE. 2014g. Lake Montauk Harbor, New York, Federal Navigation Project Maintenance Dredging. 30 Day Public Notice, March 12, 2014. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 5 p.

USACE. 2014h. Application for maintenance dredging of Wading River Creek with beach placement. Wading River Creek, Town of Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2014-00259-EBO. June 23, 2014. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 8 p.

USACE. 2014i. Fire Island Inlet to Moriches Inlet, Fire Island Stabilization Project, Hurricane Sandy Limited Reevaluation Report. Draft. Evaluation of a Stabilization Plan for Coastal Storm Risk Management in Response to Hurricane Sandy & Public Law 113-2. Main Report, U.S. Army

Corps of Engineers, New York District, New York, NY. 111 p. Available at http://www.nan.usace.army.mil/Portals/37/docs/civilworks/projects/ny/coast/fimp/FIMI_Docs/M ar_17_2014_FIMI_HSLRR.pdf. Accessed July 1, 2014.

USACE. 2014j. Application for 10 year maintenance dredging, bulkhead replacement, rock revetment construction and new dock construction. Shipyard Lane, East Marion, Town of Southold, Suffolk County, New York. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2013-01475-EYA. August 12 23, 2014. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 9 p.

USACE. 2014k. Maintenance Dredging of the Pawcatuck River, Little Narragansett Bay, and Watch Hill Cove Federal Navigation Project, Stonington, CT, and Westerly, RI. 30 Day Public Notice. March 19, 2014. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 8 p.

USACE. 2014l. Chincoteague Inlet Federal Navigation Project. http://www.nao.usace.army.mil/About/Projects/ChincoteagueNav.aspx. Accessed June 3, 2014.

USACE. 2014m. Maintenance Dredging of the Federal Navigation Project in Nantucket Harbor, Massachusetts. 30 Day Public Notice, November 14, 2014. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 6 p.

USACE. 2014n. Atlantic Coast of Long Island Jones Inlet to East Rockaway Inlet, Long Beach Island, New York, Coastal Storm Risk Management Project. Hurricane Sandy Limited Reevaluation Report. Volume 1. Main Report and Environmental Assessment. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 76 p.

USACE. 2014o. Village of Bald Head Island Shoreline Protection Project, Bald Head Island, NC. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. SAW-2012-00040, August 1, 2014. Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, NC. 21 p.

USACE. 2014p. Supplemental Public Notice for Shark River, New Jersey, Federal Navigation Project Maintenance Dredging. 15 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. SHARK RIVER SUPPLEMENT FY14, April 14, 2014. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 9 p.

USACE. 2014q. Masonboro Inlet, NC (Shallow Draft Navigation) (O&M) Fact Sheet. Dated March 6, 2014. Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, NC. 2 p.

USACE. 2014r. Atlantic Coast of New Jersey, Sandy Hook to Barnegat Inlet Beach Erosion Control Project, Section 1 – Sea Bright to Ocean Township: Elberon to Loch Arbour Reach. Draft Integrated Hurricane Sandy Limited Reevaluation Report and Environmental Assessment. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, New York, NY. Various paginations + appendices.

USACE. 2015a. Application for Downs Creek channel excavation and fill placement, Village of Cutchogue, Town of Southold, Suffolk County, NY. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2014-01272-EYA. June 5, 2015. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 9 p.

USACE. 2015b. Maintenance Dredging and Advance Maintenance Dredging of the Federal Navigation Project in the Cape Cod Canal, Bourne and Sandwich, Massachusetts, with Beneficial Use of the Dredged Sand ad Beach-fill on Town Neck Beach, Sandwich, Massachusetts. 30 Day Public

Notice. February 2, 2015. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 8 p.

USACE. 2015c. Amendment - Maintenance Dredging of Rock and Hard Packed Sand from the Pawcatuck River, Little Narragansett Bay, and Watch Hill Cove Federal Navigation Project in Stonington, CT, and Westerly, RI. 15 Day Public Notice, September 24, 2015. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 6 p.

USACE. 2015d. Maintenance Dredging of a Portion of the 10-Foot Federal Navigation Channel in Milford Harbor, Milford, CT. 30 Day Public Notice, September 24, 2015. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 6 p.

USACE. 2015e. Modification of Maintenance Dredging of Deep Hole Creek to include Willis Creek Spur, Town of Southold, Suffolk County, NY. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN- 2006-03356-M1, October 8, 2015. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 7 p.

USACE. 2015f. Maintenance Dredging of Corey Creek, Town of Southold, Suffolk County, NY. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2015-01091-EYR, September 15, 2015. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 9 p.

USACE. 2015g. Maintenance Dredging of Goose Creek, Town of Southold, Suffolk County, NY. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2015-01153-EYR, September 22, 2015. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 8 p.

USACE. 2015h. Maintenance Dredging of Mill Creek, Town of Southampton, Suffolk County, NY. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2015-01155-EYR, September 23, 2015. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 9 p.

USACE. 2015i. Application for Hatteras Inlet Channel Dredging, Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands, NC. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. SAW-2015-01856, September 4, 2015. Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, NC. 8 p.

USACE. 2015j. Holden Beach Shoreline Protection Program, Town of Holden Beach, NC. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. SAW-2011-01914, August 28, 2015. Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, NC. 20 p.

USACE. 2015k. Notice of Availability of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, Figure Eight Island Shoreline Management Project, Figure Eight Island, NC. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. SAW-2006-41158, July 9, 2015. Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, NC. 8 p.

USACE. 2015l. Maintenance Dredging of Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW), New River Inlet and Cedar Bush Cut, Onslow County, NC. 21 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. SAW-2014- 01012, July 8, 2015. Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, NC. 22 p.

USACE. 2015m. Ocean Isle Beach Shoreline Protection Project, Town of Ocean Isle Beach, NC. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. SAW-2011-01241, January 23, 2015. Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, NC. 14 p.

USACE. 2015n. Maintenance Dredging of Shinnecock Bay, Suffolk County, NY. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2015-01093-EYR, September 10, 2015. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 12 p.

USACE. 2015o. Final Dredged Material Management Plan and Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, Long Island Sound, Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 616 p. (DMMP), 760 p. (PEIS) + appendices.

USACE. 2015p. City of Virginia Beach Application to Dredge the Rudee Inlet Outer Channel Deposition Basin. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAO-2004-04041, February 20, 2015. Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk, VA. 4 p. + drawings.

USACE. 2016a. Maintenance Dredging of the Chatham Stage Harbor Federal Navigation Project, Chatham, MA. 30 Day Public Notice, April 29, 2016. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 6 p.

USACE. 2016b. Maintenance Dredging of the Federal Navigation Project in Cohasset Harbor, Cohasset and Scituate, MA. 15 Day Public Notice, April 1, 2016. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 7 p.

USACE. 2016c. Maintenance Dredging of a Portion of the 10-Foot Federal Navigation Channel in Milford Harbor, Milford, CT. 15 Day Public Notice, February 1, 2016. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 6 p.

USACE. 2016d. Maintenance Dredging of the Saco River Federal Navigation Channel, Saco and Biddeford, ME. 30 Day Public Notice, March 30, 2016. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 8 p.

USACE. 2016e. Public Notice for the Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Town of Ocean Isle Beach, NC, Terminal Groin and Beach Nourishment Project. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. SAW-2011-01241, April 29, 2016. Wilmington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Wilmington, NC. 8 p.

USACE. 2016f. Maintenance Dredging of Mecox Inlet, Town of Southampton, Suffolk County, NY. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2016-00115-EYR, February 24, 2016. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 9 p.

USACE. 2016g. Draft Environmental Assessment Little Egg Inlet Sand Resource Borrow Area Investigation for the Barnegat Inlet to Little Egg Inlet (Long Beach Island) Storm Damage Reduction Project, Ocean County, New Jersey. Philadelphia District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia, PA. 102 p.

USACE. 2016h. Update Report for Connecticut. March 31, 2016. New England District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Concord, MA. 8 p.

USACE. 2016i. Maintenance Dredging of Nissequogue River, Long Island Sound, Town of Smithtown, Suffolk County, NY. 30 Day Public Notice, Public Notice No. NAN-2016-00270-EYR, April 9, 2016. New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York, NY. 10 p.

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APPENDIX A: Imagery Sources Available for Each State in the U.S. Atlantic Coast Breeding Range of the Piping Plover.

Table A-1. The imagery dates and sources available closest to the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy (October 29, 2015) for each geographic area in the study area, from north to south. Additional interim imagery dates between October 29, 2012, and the dates listed here are also available but not listed. Geographic Area Imagery Date Imagery Source Maine: Georgetown to Wells September 5, 2015 Google Earth Maine: Wells to NH line May 7, 2015 & Google Earth April 27, 2016

New Hampshire May 7, 2015 & Google Earth April 27, 2016

Massachusetts: NH line to Plum Island May 7, 2015 & Google Earth April 27, 2016 Massachusetts: Plum Island to Plymouth Bay June 6, 2015 Google Earth Massachusetts: Plymouth Bay to Fairhaven, May 23, 2015 Google Earth including Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and inner Elizabeth Islands Massachusetts: Fairhaven to RI line, plus outer May 6, 2015 Google Earth Elizabeth Islands

Rhode Island May 6, 2015 Google Earth

Connecticut: RI line to Fenwick May 6, 2015 Google Earth Connecticut: Fenwick to Milford October 24, 2014 Google Earth Connecticut: Milford to NY line, including September 22, 2015 Google Earth Norwalk Islands & April 19, 2016

New York – Long Island Sound: Plum Point to October 11, 2014 Google Earth Glen Cove New York – Long Island Sound: Glen Cove to May 23, 2015 Google Earth Orient, plus Plum Island New York – Long Island Sound: Fishers Island May 6, 2015 Google Earth

New York – Peconic Estuary May 23, 2015 Google Earth

New York – Atlantic Ocean: Montauk to Lido May 23, 2015 Google Earth Beach

Geographic Area Imagery Date Imagery Source New York – Atlantic Ocean: Lido Beach to Sea October 11, 2014 Google Earth Gate Spring 2016 Google Maps New York (Atlantic Ocean)† October 8, 2015 USGS iCoast

New Jersey: Sandy Hook to Little Egg Inlet April 16, 2016 Google Earth New Jersey: Little Egg Inlet to Cape May May 25, 2015 & Google Earth June 21, 2015 New Jersey (entire state)† October 7 or 8, 2015 USGS iCoast

Delaware May 25, 2015 & Google Earth July 9, 2015 Delaware (entire state)† October 7, 2015 USGS iCoast

Maryland: DE line to northern 2.25 miles of May 25, 2015 & Google Earth Assateague Island July 9, 2015 Maryland: Ocean City Inlet to VA line March 8, 2016 Google Earth Maryland (entire state)† October 7, 2015 USGS iCoast

Virginia: MD line to northern 4.2 miles of March 8, 2016 Google Earth Chincoteague NWR Virginia: Chincoteague to north end of March 8, 2013 Google Earth Metompkin Island Virginia: north end of Metompkin Island to June 7, 2014 Google Earth Quinby Inlet Virginia: Accomack County (MD line to Spring 2015 USDA National Quinby Inlet) Agricultural Imagery Program Virginia: Hog Island to Fishermans Island March 8, 2013 Google Earth Virginia: Northampton County (Hog Island to Spring 2014 USDA National Fishermans Island) Agricultural Imagery Program Virginia: Fort Story to NC line November 10, 2015 Google Earth Virginia (entire state)† October 7 or 9, 2015 USGS iCoast

North Carolina: VA line to Rodanthe November 10, 2015 & Google Earth April 9, 2016 North Carolina: Rodanthe to eastern July 13, 2014 Google Earth Shackleford Banks North Carolina: eastern Shackleford Banks to October 23, 2015 Google Earth Topsail Beach North Carolina: Topsail Beach to northern October 18, 2014 Google Earth Figure Eight Island

Geographic Area Imagery Date Imagery Source North Carolina: southern Figure Eight Island to March 17, 2015 Google Earth Cape Fear River North Carolina: Cape Fear River to South October 5 or 9, 2014 Google Earth Carolina line North Carolina (entire state)† October 9, 2015 USGS iCoast † - USGS iCoast imagery from Hurricane Joaquin are oblique aerial photos, not vertical orthophotos or satellite imagery.

APPENDIX B: Tidal inlets open in each state from Maine to Virginia in 2015.

Table B-1. Open tidal inlets from north to south along the coast of Maine in 2015 with (X) habitat modification(s) at each. Note that an X in the Jetties column indicates one jetty is present and a D indicates two (dual) jetties.

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel Little River (Reid State 1 Park) 2 Kennebec River X 3 Morse River Inlet 4 Sprague River Inlet 5 Richards Pond Inlet 6 Spurwink River Inlet Scarborough River (Pine 7 X X Point) Inlet 8 Goosefare Brook1 X X 9 Saco River D X X Biddeford Pool Inlet 10 X (Wood Island Harbor) Little River Inlet 11 X (Kennebunkport) 12 Batson River Inlet 13 Kennebunk River D X 14 Mousam River Merriland / Little River 15 (Wells) Wells (Webhannet River) 16 D X Inlet 17 Ogunquit River Inlet X X X 1 – A sandbar partially or fully blocking the entrance to the inlet at Goosefare Brook was artificially breached in October 2013 to fully reopen the inlet (Gotthelf 2013, Kate O’Brien, USFWS, pers. communication 1/15/16).

Table B-2. Open tidal inlets from north to south along the coast of New Hampshire in 2015 with (X) habitat modification(s) at each. Note that an X in the Jetties column indicates one jetty is present and a D indicates two (dual) jetties.

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel Parsons (Stinky) Creek 1 X Inlet 2 Rye Harbor1 X X X 3 Hampton River Inlet D X X 1 – The structures on the outer entrance to Rye Harbor are considered breakwaters by the USACE but they are sometimes referred to as jetties by others.

Table B-3. Open tidal inlets from north to south along the coast of Massachusetts in 2015 with (X) habitat modification(s) at each. Note that an X in the Jetties column indicates one jetty is present and a D indicates two (dual) jetties.

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel 1 Merrimack River Inlet D X X unnamed inlet at Sandy 2 Point Reservation 3 Parker River Inlet 4 Essex River Inlet 5 Annisquam River Inlet X X unnamed inlet at Cape 6 Hedge 7 Little Good Harbor X 8 Saugus River X X Unnamed inlet 1 on 9 Thompson Island Unnamed inlet 2 on 10 Thompson Island Unnamed inlet on Peddocks 11 Island 12 Cohasset Inlet X X X 13 Scituate Harbor D X New Inlet (North River 14 Inlet) 15 Green Harbor Inlet D X X 16 Plymouth Bay Inlet X X Beaver Dam Brook (Bartlett 17 X Pond) Ellisville Harbor (Salt Pond) 18 X X X X Inlet 19 Cape Cod Canal X D X 20 Old Sandwich Harbor D 21 Scorton Creek D 22 Barnstable Harbor X 23 Bass Hole Inlet 24 Sesuit Harbor Inlet D X 25 Quivett Creek 26 Paine's Creek Inlet X

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel unnamed small inlet at 27 Ocean Edge Resort in X X Brewster Namskaket Creek Inlet 28 complex Little Namskaket Creek 29 Inlet complex 30 Rock Harbor Inlet X X X 31 Boat Meadow River Inlet Herring River Inlet complex 32 (Eastham) 33 Herring Brook Inlet 34 Hatches Creek Inlet unnamed inlet 1 at 35 Lieutenant Island unnamed inlet 2 at 36 Lieutenant Island unnamed inlet 3 at 37 Lieutenant Island Blackfish Creek Inlet 38 X complex unnamed inlet near Omaha 39 X Road in South Wellfleet Wellfleet Harbor (Duck 40 X X X Creek) Inlet Herring River Inlet 41 X (Wellfleet) unnamed inlet 1 at Great 42 Island unnamed inlet 2 at Great 43 Island 44 Pamet Harbor Inlet X D X 45 Hatches Harbor Inlet1 46 Nauset Inlet 47 North Inlet2 48 New (South) Inlet Unnamed inlet near 49 Chatham Inlet 50 Chatham Inlet

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel 51 Powder Hole Inlet 52 Hospital Pond Inlet unnamed inlet between 53 North and South Monomoy Islands Chatham (Stage) Harbor 54 X X X X X Inlet 55 Bucks Creek Inlet X X 56 Mill Creek Inlet X X X 57 Red River X Saquatucket Harbor 58 D X X (Andrews River) 59 Wychmere Harbor X X X X Doanes Creek (Allen 60 X X X Harbor) Herring River (Harwich / 61 D X X Dennis) 62 Swan Pond River X X 63 Bass River Inlet D X X 64 Parker's River (Yarmouth) X X X X 65 Lewis Bay / Hyannis Harbor X X X 66 Stewart’s Creek X X X 67 Halls Creek X 68 East Bay (Centerville River) X X X X X 69 West Bay X D X 70 Cotuit Bay Inlet X X X 71 Popponesset Bay Inlet X 72 Waquoit Bay Inlet D X Eel Pond (Childs River) 73 X X X X Inlet 74 Bournes Pond Inlet X D X 75 Green Pond Inlet X D X 76 Great Pond Inlet D X X 77 Little Pond Inlet X D X Falmouth Inner Harbor 78 X D X X Inlet 79 Siders Pond Outlet D 80 Salt Pond Outlet D 81 Trunk River (Oyster Pond) D X

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel 82 Wood Neck Inlet X 83 Great Sippewisset Creek 84 West Falmouth Harbor X X Herring Brook (Old Silver 85 D X Beach) 86 Wild Harbor River Inlet X 87 Wild Harbor Boat Basin X X X X 88 Fiddlers Cove X X 89 Rands Harbor X X X 90 Megansett Harbor X X X 91 Pocasset River X 92 Ox Pond 93 Back River X Unnamed inlet near 94 X X Agawam Point 95 Little Harbor 96 Bourne Cove X unnamed inlet in X 97 Mattapoisett (culvert to Eel Pond) 98 Eel Pond (Mattapoisett) 99 Mattapoisett River unnamed inlet west of X 100 Brandt Island Road in Mattapoisett unnamed inlet in Shaws X 101 Cove in Fairhaven unnamed inlet on West 102 Island unnamed inlet at 103 Winseganett Marsh, Fairhaven 104 Winseganett Pond Unnamed inlet in Nonquitt 105 X south of Barekneed Rocks 106 Moses Smith Creek X P Unnamed inlet west of 107 Salter’s Point in Dartmouth 108 Little River (Dartmouth) X

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel 109 Slocum River Inlet 110 Allens Pond Inlet X X 111 Westport River Inlet X X Unnamed inlet on Naushon 112 Island (Naushon Island) unnamed inlet on Pasque 113 Island in Gosnold (Pasque X Island) Quicks Hole Pond 114 (Nashawena Island) Cuttyhunk Harbor 115 D X X (Cuttyhunk Island) Westend Pond (Cuttyhunk 116 X Island) Tisbury Great Pond 117 X X (Martha’s Vineyard) Menemsha Creek (Martha's 118 D X Vineyard) Paint Mill Brook (Martha's 119 Vineyard) Lake Tashmoo Inlet 120 D X (Martha's Vineyard) unnamed inlet at Mink Meadows east of Lake 121 D Tashmoo (Martha's Vineyard) Lagoon Pond (Martha's 122 X X X Vineyard) Oak Bluffs Harbor Inlet 123 X D X X (Martha's Vineyard) Harthaven Harbor Inlet 124 D (Martha's Vineyard) North Inlet (Sengekontacket 125 X D X X Pond - Martha's Vineyard) South Inlet (Sengekontacket 126 D X X Pond - Martha's Vineyard) Edgartown Harbor 127 X (Martha's Vineyard)

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel Cape Poge Gut (Martha's 128 Vineyard / X Chappaquiddick) unnamed inlet between 129 Tuckernuck and Esther Islands (Nantucket) unnamed inlet between 130 Muskeget and Tuckernuck Islands (Nantucket) North Pond (Tuckernuck 131 Island) East Pond (Tuckernuck 132 Island) Nantucket Harbor 133 D X (Nantucket Island) 1 – Hatches Harbor Inlet, near the Race Point Lighthouse at the north end of Cape Cod NS, has an armored earth fill dike approximately 500 meters inland that constricts the inlet’s main tidal creek with a bridge and culvert. 2 – North Inlet opened in 2007 and is north of North Chatham (Giese et al. 2009). 3 – New Inlet is also referred to as South Inlet; the inlet opened in 1987 (FitzGerald 1993, 1996; Buynevich and Donnelly 2006, Giese et al. 2009).

Table B-4. Open tidal inlets from east to west along the coast of Rhode Island in 2015 with (X) habitat modification(s) at each. Note that an X in the Jetties column indicates one jetty is present and a D indicates two (dual) jetties.

Type of Habitat Modification

fill

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel 1 Quicksand Pond Inlet X X 2 Tunipus Pond Inlet 3 Briggs Marsh Inlet 4 Long Pond Inlet 5 Gardiner Pond Inlet 6 Easton Pond Inlet X 7 Almy Pond Inlet 8 Wesquage Pond Inlet X X 9 The Narrows Inlet 10 Point Judith Harbor X D X X 11 Cards Pond Breachway X X 12 Charlestown Breachway X D X 13 Quonochontaug Breachway X D X X 14 Weekapaug Breachway X D X X Little Narragansett Bay (at 15 Napatree Point) Great Salt Pond (Block D X X 16 Island)

Table B-5. Open tidal inlets from east to west along the coast of Connecticut in 2015 with (X) habitat modification(s) at each. Note that an X in the Jetties column indicates one jetty is present and a D indicates two (dual) jetties.

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel Wequetequock Cove / Anguilla Brook (Little 1 X X Narragansett Bay at Sandy Point) 2 Quiambog Cove X 3 Wilcox Cove 4 Palmer Cove X 5 Venetian Harbor D 6 Mumford Cove 7 Bushy Point Inlet 8 Alewife Cove D 9 Goshen Cove† X D X 10 Jordan Cove 11 Niantic River X X 12 Three Mile River X 13 Armstrong Brook 14 Mile Creek X X Unnamed inlet at Griswold 15 Point bar 16 Plum Bank Creek X X 17 Oyster River Inlet X X 18 Mud Creek D 19 Cold Spring Brook X X 20 Money Point Inlet X X X Unnamed inlet at 21 Menunketesuck Island Menunketesuck / Patchogue 22 X X X X Rivers 23 Clinton Harbor X X 24 Toms Creek X X X 25 Fence Creek X East River (Guilford 26 X Harbor)

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel Great Harbor Marsh inlet 27 X (in Joshua Cove) 28 Mansfield Point Inlet X 29 Caroline Creek X 30 Morris Creek X X 31 Cove River X X 32 Oyster River X 33 Bayview Beach Inlet X X Milford Harbor / Indian 34 D X X River 35 Fletcher’s Creek 36 Housatonic River X X 37 Bridgeport Harbor X X 38 Ash Creek X 39 Pine Creek X X 40 Southport Harbor X X X 41 Sasco Creek X X 42 Green Farms Brook D 43 Sherwood Mill Pond X X 44 Grays Creek X 45 Saugatuck Harbor X X 46 Cedar Point Harbor X 47 Canfield Inlet D 48 Shorehaven Inlet X 49 Charles Creek X X X 50 Goodwives River X X 51 Holly Pond (Cove Harbor) X X X Cove River (west of Cove 52 Island) 53 Halloween Basin X X X X 54 Dolphin Cove X X †An inlet at Goshen Cove periodically opens and closes naturally, often on an annual basis; when the inlet is closed it is occasionally opened artificially in a new location between the jetties by the state, but the inlet that was open in 2015 opened naturally after Hurricane Sandy.

Table B-6. Open tidal inlets along the Long Island Sound shoreline of New York from east to west (Fishers Island to Plum Point) in 2015 with (X) habitat modification(s) at each. Note that an X in the Jetties column indicates one jetty is present and a D indicates two (dual) jetties.

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel Silver Eel Pond (Fishers 1 X X Island) 2 Hay Harbor (Fishers Island) unnamed inlet into pond 3 near North Hill (Fishers Island) unnamed inlet in East Harbor into pond on Fishers 4 X Island Golf Course (Fishers Island) 5 Goldsmith Inlet X X 6 Mattituck Inlet D X X1 7 Baiting Hollow Inlet 8 Wading River Creek2 X X 9 Mt. Sinai Harbor D X 10 Port Jefferson Harbor D X 11 Flax Pond Inlet X D X X3 12 Stony Brook Harbor X X 13 Nissequogue River X 14 Crab Meadow Inlet4 X 15 Eatons Neck Harbor X 16 Sand Hole Inlet X 17 Lloyd Harbor X unnamed inlet into a lagoon 18 X near Cold Spring Harbor 19 Cold Spring Harbor 20 Eel Creek Unnamed inlet near Cove 21 Point in Cove Neck unnamed inlet on Center 22 Island near Mountain X Avenue 23 Frost Creek X X

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel 24 Dosoris Pond X X 25 West Pond X X 26 Glen Cove Creek X X 27 Hempstead Harbor X X 28 East Creek X unnamed inlet at West 29 Creek Farms Road in Sands Point 1 – Mattituck Inlet was mined occasionally for commercial purposes from about 1920 to 1970, with Morgan et al. (2005) estimating that from 250,000 to 500,000 cy of material was mined in addition to the dredging of the federal navigation channel since 1907. Sediment impounded by the west jetty at Breakwater Beach was also commercially mined from at least 1960 to 1977, with an estimated 260,000 to 380,000 cy of sediment removed from the system (Morgan et al. 2005). 2 – The lagoon to the Shoreham Power Plant immediately west of Wading River Creek inlet was not counted as an inlet for the purposes of this assessment. No tidal creek or lagoon is shown on a 1914 map of Long Island (Fuller 1914), indicating the lagoon outlet is not a natural inlet but more likely a cooling pond or water intake. The lagoon outlet has dual jetties which will be included in the sandy beaches inventory for this area. 3 – Flax Pond Inlet was mined for commercial sale of sand and gravel in the 1940s, and its adjacent beaches were mined since at least 1874 for sale to New York City industries (Abrams et al. 2008). 4 – The two lagoons at the Northport Power Station in Fort Salonga west of Crab Meadow Inlet were not counted as inlets for the purposes of this assessment. Neither lagoon is shown on a 1914 map of Long Island (Fuller 1914), indicating the lagoon outlets are not natural inlets but more likely a cooling pond and/or water intake. The eastern lagoon outlet has bulkheads perpendicular to the beach and the western lagoon (Northport Basin) has dual jetties. All of these structures will be included in the sandy beaches inventory for this area.

Table B-7. Open tidal inlets along the Peconic Estuary shoreline of Long Island, New York, clockwise from Montauk to Orient Point in 2015 with actual (X) and proposed (P) habitat modification(s) at each. Note that an X in the Jetties column indicates one jetty is present and a D indicates two (dual) jetties.

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel 1 Lake Montauk X D X 2 Napeague Harbor X unnamed inlet to the Devon 3 D X Yacht Club marina 4 Fresh Pond (Amagansett) X X X 5 Accabonac Harbor X X 6 Hog Creek X X X X X 7 Three Mile Harbor Inlet D X 8 Alewife Brook unnamed inlet immediately 9 north of unnamed inlet east D of Northwest Creek unnamed inlet east of 10 Northwest Creek 11 Northwest Creek X X X 12 Little Northwest Creek 13 Sag Harbor Inlet X 14 Great Pond Creek X 15 Fresh Pond (North Haven) unnamed inlet north of 16 Goodwood Road in North Haven unnamed inlet in North 17 D Haven near Tyndal Point 18 Ganet Creek D 19 Mill Creek X 20 Noyack Creek X 21 Fresh Pond (Noyack) X X 22 Wooley Pond X X Davis Creek / North Sea 23 X Harbor 24 Little Sebonac Creek 25 Sebonac (Creek) Inlet X X

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel 26 Cold Spring Pond X X Shinnecock Canal / 27 D X X Huntington Harbor 28 Squire Pond 29 Red Creek Pond X X 30 Hubbard Creek 31 Goose Creek 32 Meetinghouse Creek X X X 33 Reeves Creek X X Dreamers Cove / Cases 34 D X X Creek 35 Miamogue Lagoon D X X 36 Hawks Creek D X X East Creek (South 37 X Jamesport/Riverhead) 38 Brushs Creek X X X 39 James Creek X X X 40 Deep Hole Creek X X X 41 Halls Creek X X X 42 Downs Creek (new position) X X X 43 Downs Creek (old position) X 44 West Creek X X X unnamed breach to lagoon 45 on northwest end of Robins Island (Robins Island) 46 Schoolhouse Creek X X X X 47 Wickham Creek X X X 48 Mud Creek X 49 Wunneweta Pond D X 50 The Lagoon at Nassau Point D 51 Little Creek X 52 Richmond Creek X X 53 Corey Creek X 54 West Lake (Southold) X X 55 Cedar Beach Creek X X X unnamed inlet near 56 D X Paradise Point in Southold 57 Reydon Shores Inlet D X

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel unnamed inlet at Harbor 58 D Lights in Southold 59 Goose Creek (Southold) X X 60 Town Creek X X X unnamed inlet southwest of 61 X Rogers Road in Southold Pettys Pond / Beixedon 62 D X Creek 63 Budds Pond P 64 Brick (Sage) Cove X X X X unnamed inlet near 65 Conkling Point 66 Moores Drain unnamed inlet northwest of 67 D X Fanning Point in Greenport unnamed inlet northeast of 68 X Fanning Point in Greenport Stirling Basin (Greenport 69 X X Harbor) 70 Gull Pond D X X 71 Spring Pond D X X X 72 Dam Pond X 73 Oysterponds Creek X Unnamed inlet at Long 74 Beach Bay TWA 75 Long Beach Bay X Coecles Harbor (Shelter 76 X Island) unnamed inlet 1 on Shelter 77 Island near Mashomack Point unnamed inlet 2 on Shelter 78 Island near Mashomack Point unnamed inlet 3 in Majors 79 Harbor on Shelter Island unnamed inlet 4 in Majors 80 Harbor on Shelter Island unnamed inlet 5 on Shelter 81 Island near Majors Point

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Jetties

or inlet

Dredging

groinfield

/ bulkheads /

Breakwaters

Terminal groins Terminal /

Artificially created

Minedfor beach fill

Seawalls revetments / Relocationof channel 82 Bass Creek (Shelter Island) Log Cabin Creek (Shelter 83 Island) Unnamed inlet 6 near Log 84 Cabin Creek (Shelter Island) Unnamed inlet 7 near Log 85 Cabin Creek (Shelter Island) Miss Annie's Creek (Shelter 86 Island) 87 Smith Cove X X unnamed inlet on Shelter 88 Island near South Ferry X X landing Dickerson Creek (Shelter 89 X X Island) unnamed inlet to small 90 marina southeast of Crab D Creek on Shelter Island 91 Crab Creek (Shelter Island) X Gardiners Creek (Shelter 92 X X Island) unnamed inlet on Shelter 93 Island near Hay Beach Point Great Pond (Gardiners 94 Island) Little Pond (Gardiners 95 Island) Gaylor Hole (Gardiners 96 D X Island) Home Pond (Gardiners 97 Island) unnamed breach 1 on 98 Gardiners Island spit unnamed inlet 2 on 99 Gardiners Island spit unnamed breach 3 on 100 Gardiners Island spit

Table B-8. Open tidal inlets from east to west along the New York coast in 2015 with actual (X) and proposed (P) habitat modification(s) at each. Note that an X in the Jetties column indicates one jetty is present and a D indicates two (dual) jetties.

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Artificially created Artificially Jetties / groins Terminal field groin / Seawalls revetments Breakwaters Dredging of Relocation inlet or channel Minedfor beach fill 1 Georgica Inlet1 X X 2 Sagaponack Inlet2 X X 3 Mecox Inlet3 X X 4 Shinnecock Inlet D X X X 5 Moriches Inlet X D X X X Unnamed inlet/breach on 6 Fire Island 7 Fire Island Inlet4 X X X 8 Jones Inlet X X X X 9 East Rockaway Inlet X X X Rockaway Inlet (Jamaica 10 X X X X X Bay Inlet) 1 – Georgica Inlet is artificially opened annually, unless the inlet has opened naturally. 2 – Sagaponack Inlet is artificially opened annually, unless the inlet has opened naturally. 3 – Mecox Inlet is artificially opened annually, unless the inlet has opened naturally. 4 – Fire Island Inlet has an earthen and riprap dike on its northern/western shoreline extending perpendicular to the shoreline into the inlet.

Table B-9. Open tidal inlets from north to south along the New Jersey coast in 2015 with actual (X) and proposed (P) habitat modification(s) at each. Note that an X in the Jetties column indicates one jetty is present and a D indicates two (dual) jetties.

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Artificially created Artificially Jetties / groins Terminal field groin / Seawalls revetments Breakwaters Dredging of Relocation inlet or channel Minedfor beach fill 1 Shark River Inlet D X 2 Manasquan Inlet X D X X 3 Barnegat Inlet D X X X 4 Little Egg Inlet1 P P 5 Brigantine Inlet X X 6 Absecon Inlet D X X X X 7 Great Egg Harbor Inlet X X X X 8 Corson’s Inlet X X X X 9 Townsends Inlet X X X X X 10 Hereford Inlet X X X X Cape May Inlet (Cold 11 D X Spring Inlet) 1 – The USACE has proposed mining the ebb shoal complex of Little Egg Inlet in 2016 to use as beach fill for portions of Long Beach Island (USACE 2016g).

Table B-10. Open tidal inlets from north to south along the Delaware coast in 2015 with actual (X) and proposed (P) habitat modification(s) at each. Note that an X in the Jetties column indicates one jetty is present and a D indicates two (dual) jetties.

Type of Habitat Modification

Inlet

Artificially created Artificially Jetties / groins Terminal field groin / Seawalls revetments Breakwaters Dredging of Relocation inlet or channel Minedfor beach fill

Indian River Inlet, DE X D X X X

Table B-11. Open tidal inlets from north to south along the Maryland coast in 2015 with actual (X) and proposed (P) habitat modification(s) at each. Note that an X in the Jetties column indicates one jetty is present and a D indicates two (dual) jetties.

Type of Habitat Modification

Inlet

Artificially created Artificially Jetties / groins Terminal field groin / Seawalls revetments Breakwaters Dredging of Relocation inlet or channel Minedfor beach fill

Ocean City Inlet, MD D X X X X

Table B-12. Open tidal inlets from north to south along the Virginia coast in 2015 with actual (X) and proposed (P) habitat modification(s) at each. Note that an X in the Jetties column indicates one jetty is present and a D indicates two (dual) jetties.

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Artificially created Artificially Jetties / groins Terminal field groin / Seawalls revetments Breakwaters Dredging of Relocation inlet or channel Minedfor beach fill 1 Chincoteague Inlet X 2 Gargathy Inlet 3 Metompkin Inlet Unnamed breach on Cedar 4 Island 5 Wachapreague Inlet 6 Quinby Inlet 7 Great Machipongo Inlet 8 Sand Shoal Inlet 9 New Inlet 10 Ship Shoal Inlet Unnamed inlet between 11 Myrtle and Mink Islands 12 Little Inlet Unnamed breach on Smith 13 Island 14 Fishermans Inlet Unnamed inlet near 15 Fishermans Inlet Unnamed inlet 1 on 16 Fisherman Island 17 Rudee Inlet D X X

Table B-13. Open tidal inlets from north to south along the North Carolina coast in 2015 with actual (X) and proposed (P) habitat modification(s) at each. Note that an X in the Jetties column indicates one jetty is present and a D indicates two (dual) jetties.

Type of Habitat Modification

Order Inlet

Artificially created Artificially Jetties / groins Terminal field groin / Seawalls revetments Breakwaters Dredging of Relocation inlet or channel Minedfor beach fill 1 Oregon Inlet1 X X X 2 Hatteras Inlet X 3 Ocracoke Inlet X 4 New Old Drum Inlet 5 Ophelia Inlet 6 Barden Inlet X X X 7 Beaufort Inlet X X X 8 Bogue Inlet X X X X 9 Bear Inlet 10 Brown’s Inlet 11 New River Inlet X X X X 12 New Topsail Inlet X X 13 Rich Inlet P X P X 14 Mason Inlet X X X X 15 Masonboro Inlet X D X X X 16 Carolina Beach Inlet X X X 17 Cape Fear River X X 18 Lockwoods Folly Inlet P X 19 Shallotte Inlet P X X 20 Tubbs Inlet X X X X 1 – The NCDOT mined ~33,000 cy of sediment from within Oregon Inlet to fill a scour hole adjacent to the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge across the inlet in December 2013, which had destabilized the bridge and led to its emergency closure.