APPENDIX 10 Book 9 Part 4 of the Literature Search, Salt Marsh Losses THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Suffolk County Vector Control & Wetlands Management Long Term Plan & Environmental Impact Statement TaskTask 3:3: BookBook 9,9, PartPart 44 SaltSalt Marsh Losses Prepared for: Suffolk County Department of Public Works Suffolk County Department of Health Services Suffolk County, New York Prepared by: CASHIN ASSOCIATES, P.C. 1200 Veterans Memorial Highway, Hauppauge, NY March 2006 THIS PAGE WAS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Suffolk County Vector Control and Wetlands Management Long-Term Plan Literature Review Task Three – Book 9 – Salt Marsh Losses March 2006 SUFFOLK COUNTY VECTOR CONTROL AND WETLANDS MANAGEMENT LONG - TERM PLAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT PROJECT SPONSOR Steve Levy Suffolk County Executive Department of Environment and Energy Michael Deering Commissioner Department of Public Works Department of Health Services Gilbert Anderson, P.E. David G. Graham, M.D. Chief Deputy Commissioner Acting Commissioner Louis Calderone Vito Minei, P.E. Deputy Commissioner Director, Division of Environmental Quality PROJECT MANAGEMENT Project Manager: Walter Dawydiak, P.E., J.D. Chief Engineer, Division of Environmental Quality, Suffolk County Department of Health Services Suffolk County Department of Suffolk County Department of Public Works, Division of Vector Health Services, Office of Ecology Control Martin Trent Dominick V. Ninivaggi Chief Superintendent Kimberly Shaw Tom Iwanejko Bureau Supervisor Principal Environmental Analyst Robert M. Waters Mary E. Dempsey Bureau Supervisor Biologist Laura Bavaro Senior Environmental Analyst Phil DeBlasi Environmental Analyst Jeanine Schlosser Principal Clerk Cashin Associates, PC i Suffolk County Vector Control and Wetlands Management Long-Term Plan Literature Review Task Three – Book 9 – Salt Marsh Losses March 2006 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK Cashin Associates, P.C. ii Suffolk County Vector Control and Wetlands Management Long-Term Plan Literature Review Task Three – Book 9 – Salt Marsh Losses March 2006 SUFFOLK COUNTY LONG TERM PLAN CONSULTANT TEAM Cashin Associates, P.C. Hauppauge, NY Subconsultants Cameron Engineering, L.L.P. Syosset, NY Integral Consulting Annapolis, MD Bowne Management Systems, Inc. Mineola, NY Kamazima Lwiza, PhD Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY Ducks Unlimited Stony Brook, NY Steven Goodbred, PhD & Laboratory Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY RTP Environmental Westbury, NY Sinnreich, Safar & Kosakoff Central Islip, NY Bruce Brownawell, PhD & Laboratory Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY Anne McElroy, PhD & Laboratory Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY Andrew Spielman, PhD Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA Richard Pollack, PhD Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA Masahiko Hachiya, PhD Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA Wayne Crans, PhD Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ Susan Teitelbaum, PhD Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY Zawicki Vector Management Consultants Freehold, NJ Michael Bottini, Turtle Researcher East Hampton, NY Robert Turner, PhD & Laboratory Southampton College, NY Christopher Gobler, PhD & Laboratory Southampton College, NY Jerome Goddard, PhD Mississippi Department of Health, Jackson, MS Sergio Sanudo, PhD & Laboratory Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY Robert Cerrato, PhD Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY Suffolk County Department of Health Services, Hauppauge, NY Division of Environmental Quality Cashin Associates, PC iii Suffolk County Vector Control and Wetlands Management Long-Term Plan Literature Review Task Three – Book 9 – Salt Marsh Losses March 2006 This report was prepared by Cashin Associates (personnel including Jeffrey Kassner, John Schreck, PE, Kimberly Somers, and David Tonjes, PhD). Cashin Associates, PC iv Suffolk County Vector Control and Wetlands Management Long-Term Plan Literature Review Task Three – Book 9 – Salt Marsh Losses March 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS .....................................................................................v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...........................................................................................................................1 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................3 2. WETLANDS REGULATIONS ......................................................................................................................4 2.1. Federal Regulation...........................................................................................................................5 2.2. State Regulation...............................................................................................................................8 2.3. County Regulation .........................................................................................................................14 2.4. Local Regulation............................................................................................................................14 3. GENERAL FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH SALT MARSH LOSSES...........................................................27 4. US EXAMPLES OF RECENT MAJOR SALT MARSH LOSSES...................................................................41 4.1. Louisiana Coastal Marshes ............................................................................................................41 4.2. Jamaica Bay ...................................................................................................................................47 5. LONG ISLAND SALT MARSH OBSERVATIONS .......................................................................................53 5.1. NYSDEC .......................................................................................................................................53 5.2. NYSDOS .......................................................................................................................................55 5.3. The Nature Conservancy................................................................................................................57 5.4. Other Studies..................................................................................................................................58 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................69 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Sea Level Rise Rates, US East Coast (from NOAA Tide Gage Records)......................................35 Table 2. North Shore Wetlands Trends ........................................................................................................54 Table 3. Peconic Bay Wetlands Trends........................................................................................................54 Table 4. South Shore Wetlands Trends ........................................................................................................54 Table 5. Suffolk County and Downstate Significant Water Fowl Coastal Wetlands Trends........................58 Table 6. Coastal Marsh Project Classifications of Suffolk County NWI Salt Marshes................................62 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Comparison of CA NWI Salt Marsh Interpretation and NASA Coastal Marsh Project NWI Salt Marsh Interpretation .............................................................................................................61 Figure 2. Comparison of CA NWI Salt Marsh Interpretation and NASA Coastal Marsh Project NWI Salt Marsh Interpretation .............................................................................................................63 Figure 3. Comparison of CA NWI Salt Marsh Interpretation and NASA Coastal Marsh Project NWI Salt Marsh Interpretation .............................................................................................................64 Figure 4. Comparison of CA NWI Salt Marsh Interpretation and NASA Coastal Marsh Project NWI Salt Marsh Interpretation .............................................................................................................65 Cashin Associates, PC v Suffolk County Vector Control and Wetlands Management Long-Term Plan Literature Review Task Three – Book 9 – Salt Marsh Losses March 2006 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS CCMP Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan CDs Conservation Districts CMP Coastal Management Plan CWA Clean Water Act ECL Environmental Conservation Laws FINS Fire Island National Seashore FWA Freshwater Wetlands Act GIS Geographical Information System LISS Long Island Sound Study LWRP Local Waterfront Revitalization Program MTBE methyl tert butyl ether NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NOAA National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration NPS National Park Service NWI National Wetland Inventory NYSDEC New York State Department of Environmental Conservation NYSDOS New York State Department of State OMWM Open Marsh Water Management PEP Peconic Estuary Program SCDHS Suffolk County Department of Health Services SCVC Suffolk County Department of Public Works, Division of Vector Control SSER South Shore Estuary Reserve TNC The Nature Conservancy TWA Tidal Wetlands Act ULV ultra low volume USEPA US Environmental Protection Agency USFWS United States Fish and Wildlife Services USGS United States Geological Survey Cashin Associates, PC vi Suffolk County Vector Control and Wetlands Management