FY2014 Annual Progress Report and FY2015 Annual Work Plan Center for the Inland Bays
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Center for the Inland Bays FY2014 Annual Progress Report and FY2015 Annual Work Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract....................................................................2 Preface & Introduction..............................................3 Accomplishments & Workplan Summary..................5 Completed Projects................................................10 Ongoing Projects....................................................26 Proposed Projects................................................122 Projected Travel Expenses..................................152 Staff Descriptions.................................................153 DELAWARE CENTER FOR THE INLAND BAYS, INC. Implementation of the Delaware Inland Bays CCMP Abstract The Center presents the following completed projects from the FY2014 workplan and presents the following on-going and new projects for its FY2015 workplan. These projects implement various CCMP actions and may include but are not limited to the following: Completed Land Conservation Options and Considerations Workshop Inland Bays Nitrogen and Phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load Modelling Assessment Hazardous Debris Removal from Lewes/Rehoboth Canal Shoreline Monitoring and Assessment to aid in Restoration Schoolyard Habitats in the Inland Bays Watershed Sea Level Rise Awareness Week 2013 Anchorage Canal Stormwater Retrofit Demonstration Project -- Sandpiper Pines Bioretention Area Concept Design Ongoing Gardening for the Bays Native Plant Sale Long-term continuous saltmarsh monitoring in the Inland Bays Beneficial Reuse of Dredge Material for Wetland Restoration (Demonstration Project) Shellfish Enhancement Action Plan Angola Neck Reforestation Project Loop Canal Living Shoreline & Wetland Restoration Project Poplar Thicket Restoration Plan Poplar Thicket Upland Habitat Restoration Project Living Shoreline Restoration Permitting and Policy Development Upper Rehoboth Bay Land Conservation & Restoration Initiative Middle Island Restoration Project Your Creeks Eelgrass Habitat Suitability Mapping Project Bethany Beach Nature Center Shorezone Fish Community Volunteer Monitoring Program Inland Bays Clean Up Oyster Gardening Program Annual Inland Bays Horseshoe Crab Survey and Tagging Project CIB Speakers Bureau Delaware Center for the Inland Bays 2 DELAWARE CENTER FOR THE INLAND BAYS, INC. Implementation of the Delaware Inland Bays CCMP The Center presents the following completed projects from the FY2014 workplan and presents the following on-going and new projects for its FY2015 workplan. These projects implement various CCMP actions and may include but are not limited to the following: Ongoing Eelgrass planting in Delaware Inland Bays James Farm Long Term Site Planning (James Farm Master Plan) Demonstration and Training of Living Shoreline Techniques for Marine Contractors Inland Bays Migratory Fish Passage Restoration Feasibility and Planning Study 2014 Delaware Inland Bays Case Statement Migratory Fish Passage Project 1: Millsboro Pond Fish Ladder James Farm Middle School Program Anchorage Canal Drainage Area Stormwater Retrofit Project: East Side Storm Drains Bio-enhancement to Improve Estuarine Habitat and Water Quality of Poorly-Flushed Residential Canals Hazardous Debris Removal from Indian River and Rehoboth Bay Inland Bays CCMP Project Management and Oversight Land Conservation Practitioners’ Workshop Upper Indian River Watershed Study for Water Quality BMP Implementation Inland Bays Habitat Plan & Restoration Strategy Synthesis 2012 Center for the Inland Bays Facility Systems Replacement Plan and Financial Consultation Proposed Oyster Shell Recycling Program "Don't Chuck Your Shucks" James Farm Master Plan Implementation Phase I 2015 Center for the Inland Bays Financial Plan Sunset Park Coastal Restoration Project Poplar Thicket Coastal Restoration Project EPA Monitoring Plan Delaware Center for the Inland Bays 3 Preface This document is written to meet EPA requirements for an annual work plan for award of funds pursuant to Section 320 of the Clean Water Act. This Work Plan serves as an agreement between the Center for the Inland Bays and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for work to be carried out during Fiscal Year 2015 (October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015). The focus of this Work Plan is the implementation of the Delaware Inland Bays Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan via research, demonstration, education/outreach, and habitat restoration activities. Introduction Delaware’s Inland Bays and their encompassing watershed have been the subject of study since 1969. Since 1988, the Inland Bays have been part of the National Estuary Program, established under the Federal Clean Water Act and administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. This estuary program effort has culminated in a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for the Inland Bays, which is in the implementation phase. To support this implementation effort and to ensure that an open and collaborative process continues for future conservation efforts in the watershed, the Center for the Inland Bays, Inc. was established by the Delaware General Assembly in 1994 under the auspices of the Inland Bays Watershed Enhancement Act. The purposes of the Center are: 1. To build, maintain, and foster the partnership among the general public, the private sector, and local, state, and federal governments, which is essential for establishing and sustaining policy, programs, and the political will to preserve and restore the resources of the Inland Bays watershed; 2. To sponsor and support educational activities, restoration efforts, and land acquisition programs that lead to the present and future preservation and enhancement of the Inland Bays watershed; and 3. To serve as a neutral forum where Inland Bays watershed issues may be analyzed and considered for the purposes of providing responsible officials and the public with a basis for making informed decisions concerning the management of the resources of the Inland Bays watershed. The mission of the Center is: to promote the wise use and enhancement of Delaware’s Inland Bays and their watersheds. Delaware Center for the Inland Bays 4 Fiscal Year 2014 Accomplishments Summary The Center began the Celebration of is 20th Anniversary Year in FY2014. A special edition of the Center’s Annual Report highlighted the successes shared by our partners over a fruitful two decades of CCMP implementation. These successes include the significant reduction in nutrient loads to the Bay from all major sources, the development of a comprehesive agency and volunteer-based estuary monitoring program, a major cleanup of the Bay’s lone power plant, and multiple empirical indicators suggesting that the biology of the Bay is responding to restoration efforts. The Center is using its 20th Anniversary to increase private financial donations for CCMP implementation, and will hold a celebratory gala this August. A rebranding and enhanced marketing and outreach initiative completed in FY2014, have contributed to increased private donations. The Center has also continued an increase in project-specific grants. To date in FY2014, the Center was awarded four project grants totaling $195,500. In conjunction with the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary and the Barnegat Bay Program, the Center has applied for another $882,352 in grant funds from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to fund its Living Shoreline Initiative. Shorelines continue to be an important focus for the Center in FY2014 and 2015. As it moves forward into another 20 years, the Center remains grateful for the sustained and generous financial support of the EPA that makes possible the implementation of the Inland Bays CCMP. The following summary highlights accomplishments from FY2014 by area of mission. RESEARCH & MONITORING This fiscal year continued the Center’s core added-value of providing timely applied research to address important management questions about the estuary. The Inland Bays Nitrogen and Phosphorus Total Maximum Daily Load Modelling Assessment revealed that the model used to develop the Inland Bays TMDL is not effective at simulating diel-cycling dissolved oxygen concentrations that are characteristic of shallow eutrophic estuaries such as the Inland Bays. Nor was the model effective at simulating chlorophyll concentrations used to represent phytoplankton. Therefore the model does not adequately capture a critically-important negative response of the estuary to eutrophication. This raises the potential that the model may have informed the selection of inadequate nutrient TMDLs for the estuary. The study recommended including important sub-models for benthic-pelagic coupling and primary production and respiration, which were absent from the existing model. The report also recommended 1) increasing model spatial resolution in tidal headwaters 2) including the 14 years of newly available data, and 3) re-assessing nutrient loading rates from the watershed. The Center’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) is convening a working group to develop a scope of work for an updated model based on the study’s recommendations. The Shoreline Monitoring and Assessment to Aid in Restoration project was completed. The study produced condition data on shorelines and riparian landuse for Rehoboth and Indian River Bay and will serve as the baseline for tracking condition and inform shoreline management goals. It will also be used to fill an important environmental indicator gap for shoreline condition