Coastal Restoration Activities within Jamaica Bay – Planning Ahead State of the Bay Symposium - 2016
Peter Weppler USACE-NY District June 15, 2016
US Army Corps of Engineers
BUILDING STRONG® Water Resources Problems
Coastal Storm Risk Vulnerability ► Structures exposed to inundation, waves and erosion • >41,000 structures at risk of inundation for 1% event ► Naturally low-lying topography – inundation occurs across broad areas ► Densely populated urban area ► Extensive low-lying infrastructure – Critical infrastructure within inundation impact areas
Ecosystem Degradation . Undermines natural resiliency of the area . Shorelines Degraded and Lost Habitat . Hardened/Modified . Bathymetric Alterations . Water and Sediment Quality Degradation
BUILDING STRONG® 1% Flood Hazard with Mid-range SLC
3 BUILDING STRONG® C
Critical Infrastructure
4 BUILDING STRONG® Vulnerable populations in the Study Area: Limited Mobility
Map created by the Science and Resilience Institute
5 BUILDING STRONG® Vulnerable populations in the Study Area: Low Income
Map created by the Science and Resilience Institute
6 BUILDING STRONG® BUILDING STRONG® HRE Restoration Feasibility Study . Comprehensive Restoration Plan – Version 1.0 . 33 sites to be recommended for Construction . <250 Sites for possible Future “Spin-Off” Feasibility Studies (may include multiple sites) for future budgeting process (3x3x3 compliant) or Continuing Authorities Program (CAP). Study Report Includes recommendations from Lower Passaic River, Bronx River, Flushing Creek, Jamaica Bay and Hackensack River Feasibility Studies which are within the HRE Planning Regions
Sites to be Recommended for Near-Term Construction
Lower Passaic Bronx River: River: 3 Sites + 2 9 Sites “Deferred Sites”
Hackensack River: Flushing Creek: 2 Sites 1 Site
Liberty State Park Jamaica Bay: 6 and 5 Oyster Perimeter Sites + Restoration Sites 5 Marsh Islands
8 BUILDING STRONG® Jamaica Bay Planning Region Perimeter Sites
1 Dead Horse Bay: $80.18M
2 Fresh Creek: $44.05M 3 Hawtree Point: $1.42M 4 Bayswater State Park: $5.63M
5 Dubos Point: $9.26M
3 6 Brant Point: $7.25M 2 8 7 Marsh Islands 7 4 5 Oyster Restoration 6 8 1 Total Cost: $147.84M
9 BUILDING STRONG® Hawtree Point: $1.4M Perimeter Sites
Bayswater State Park: $5.7M
Fresh Creek: $44.05M
Dead Horse Bay: BUILDING STRONG $80.1M Brant Point: $7.3M Dubos Point: $9.26M ® Jamaica Bay Marsh Islands Leveraging Lessons Learned . Ecological output for given acre of marsh island is constant while cost dependent upon existing depth and cost of sand material and material transport.
. Size of marsh influenced by amount of contiguous and sustainable acreage within the 1974 regulatory footprint with given range of elevations.
. Minimum island size: Cost constraints on mob/demob
. Maximum island size: Existing depth (contour) where sand placement becomes more expensive and less-cost effective
. 50% subsidence of sand following placement
. Islands selected based on:
► Constructability, bathymetry and hydrodynamics
► Minimum sand volumes for maximum wetland acreage and sustainability
11 BUILDING STRONG® Jamaica Bay Marsh Islands
1 2 3 1 Elders Point Center: $15.5M 4 2 Duck Point: $15.1M
5 3 Pumpkin Patch West: $14.8M
4 Pumpkin Patch East: $26.9M 5 Stony Creek: $20.8M
Total Cost: $93.1M
12 BUILDING STRONG® Marsh Islands
13 BUILDING STRONG® Atlantic Coast of New York East Rockaway Inlet to Rockaway Inlet, Jamaica Bay Hurricane Sandy General Reevaluation . Local Sponsor - New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) . Local Partners New York City Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency Department of Parks and Recreation Department of Environmental Protection National Park Service (NPS)
. Planning Strategy ► Two sub areas evaluated as a system • Each sub area evaluated as a planning reach to identify the most efficient feature to address specific risk. • The study area is addressed as a system to meet the study objectives & provide a resilient
14 BUILDING STRONG® Study Objectives
. Reduce vulnerability to storm surge impacts; . Reduce future flood risk in ways that will support the long-term sustainability of the coastal ecosystem and communities; . Reduce the economic costs and risks associated with large-scale flood and storm events; . Improve community resiliency, including infrastructure and service recovery from storm effects; and . Enhance natural storm surge buffers and improve coastal resilience.
15 BUILDING STRONG® Perimeter Plan Alternative
16 BUILDING STRONG® Tentatively Selected Plan
Estimated Cost: $2.8 billion BCR: 2.58
17 BUILDING STRONG® Flood Damage Reduction
Annual Annual Damages Implementation Prevented Costs
Cost Output . National Economic Development (NED) Plan . A plan recommending Federal action is to be the alternative plan with the greatest net economic benefit consistent with protecting the Nation’s environment
BUILDING STRONG® Ecosystem Restoration Annual Annual Implementation Ecosystem Costs Output
Cost Output . National Ecosystem Restoration (NER) Plan . A plan that reasonably maximizes ecosystem restoration benefits compared to costs, consistent with the Federal objective. The plan must be shown to be cost-effective and justified to achieve the desired level of output.
BUILDING STRONG® Compare Plans
For TRADITIONAL PURPOSES:
. Compare costs and benefits BC Ratio = $ Benefits/$ Costs
Net Benefits = $ Benefits - $ Costs . Traditional benefits measured in $
For ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION: $
• Environmental benefits not in $ OUTPUT
• Therefore no B/C
• Can still compare costs and benefits
BUILDING STRONG® Next Steps . Office of Management and Budget, “Incorporating Ecosystem Services into Federal Decision Making,” M-16-01, Memos, October 7, 2015 - https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2016/m-16-01.pdf ► calling on Federal agencies to incorporate ecosystem services into Federal decision making requests a description of current agency practice and work plans to be submitted to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) no later than March 30, 2016 and plans for implementation guidance to be developed in collaboration with the agencies by November 30, 2016. . “Report on Incorporating Ecosystem Services into Communication, Collaboration and Decision Making within the US Army Corps.” Letter to L TG Bostick from Chief of Engineers Environmental Advisory Board, 19 April 2016 – http://www.usace.army.mil/Portals/2/docs/Environmental/EAB/ecosystem_svc_rep _19apr2016.pdf ► 1. Develop internal methods - Use an expert Corps team with experts from across business lines, to explore and develop decision appropriate methods for integrating ecosystem services into current decision making processes in all business lines and Corps activities. ► 2. Build awareness and capacity - Build awareness of and capacity for using ecosystem services in Corps decision making across all business lines and divisions. ► Coordinate with other agencies
21 BUILDING STRONG® Jamaica Bay Coastal Restoration “Many Partners”
Rockaway Reformulation
NY Rising (Coastal Feasibility Study) Marsh Islands Spring Creek
South (NYSDEC/FEMA/NPS North (USACE/NYCDP&R Hazard Mitigation Grant Continuing Authorities Program) Program)
22 BUILDING STRONG® Draft East Rockaway Inlet – Rockaway Inlet, Jamaica Bay Hurricane Sandy GRR/EIS
Draft HRE Feasibility Study Report Summer 2016
Peter Weppler Chief, Environmental Analysis Branch 917-790-8634 [email protected]
Lisa Baron (HRE, Jamaica Bay) Dan Falt (Rockaway Reformulation) 917-790-8306 917-790-8614 [email protected] [email protected] STRONG®