A standing room only crowd gathers at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center.At the most recent Jamaica Bay Task Force Meeting, which occurred on Thursday, March 19, a collection of presentations were given on the status of various issues and projects concerning Jamaica Bay.
A rich agenda promised an informative evening for those who showed up at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, which amounted to a standing room only crowd.
Don Riepe presented on the state of the Wildlife Refuge and the history of its management strategies implemented over the years. Dan Mundy, stakeholder co-chair of the Science and Resilience Institute atJamaica Bay (SRIJB), provided an update on the institute and introduced its new director—Adam Parris. Keith Mahoney, from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), who spoke about improvements in the bay’s water quality as a result of wastewater treatment plant retrofits.
Elizabeth Jordan, of the NYC Parks Department, ran through conceptual plans for the Sunset Cove Wetland Restoration and Resiliency Project in Broad Channel.
Considering the pressure applied on the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) by Senator Schumer and Assemblyman Goldfeder to communicate progress on the Rockaway Reformulation Study, many awaited Dan Falt’s presentation.
Falt, Project Manager of the Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE)Rockaway Beach and Jamaica Bay Reformulation Study, presented the project in its still-preliminary stages.
This project has a particular history of being drawn out and interrupted at many different points, and many have grown frustrated with its lack of movement.
Originally, the Rockaway Beach project was its own specific undertaking. First authorized under the Flood Control Act of 1965 and later modified by the Water Resources Development Act of 1974, it underwent initial construction and periodic nourishment for a 10-year period. The initial beach replenishment was completed through five construction contracts in 1977.
Dan Falt, Project Manager of the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)Rockaway Beach and Jamaica Bay Reformulation Study, presents the project in its stillpreliminary stages.From 1977–2004 the USACE continued to maintain the project, but eventually high costs and somewhat futile efforts called for a reformulation of this plan, seeking a long-term, cost-effective solution to the incessantly eroding shoreline. According to a USACE Fact Sheet on the project, "Severe storms during 1977 and 1978 seriously eroded the beach and emergency repairs were made in 1978 and 1979 to these affected areas. Periodic nourishment was provided from 1980 to 1988. Further erosion from storms led to a second major construction effort after being authorized through Section 934 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, allowing continued Federal participation in periodic beach fill nourishment. Under this authority, a reevaluation report approved in May 1994 prescribed three additional nourishment cycles occurring three years apart. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) supported the reevaluation report’s recommendations and signed the Project Cooperation Agreement to cost-share construction of the project in May 1995."
Dan Mundy Jr., of the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers.USACE began the reformulation study in 1995, and a design was reached and agreed upon with the NYSDEC in 2003—a process spanning eight years. The study had been further delayed due to variable Federal funding since the agreement was signed in 2003, but the study was fully federally funded following the passage of the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013—another 10 years having gone by.
Dan Mundy Sr., of the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers.Preliminary alternative and existing conditions were developed by 2011, but required significant revision after the Sandy storm.
After Hurricane Sandy occurred in 2012, the site analysis had to be revised considering the altered conditions and the expanded scope of the problem. Almost two and a half years after the storm, new preliminary alternatives are only now being presented to the public. More and more problems tend to develop while the USACE slowly prepare their solutions. They have had to stop and start over again multiple times to account for new issues that arise during periods of planning. But since the funding is in place, there is now an opportunity to equip the entire area with appropriate defensive measures.
Don Riepe gives his presentation on the history of management strategies at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.In Falt’s presentation, neighborhoods considered within the scope of the project were delineated on a map. The project has now evolved to include not only Rockaway, but Broad Channel, Howard Beach, Canarsie, Jamaica Bay West (from Canarsie to Sheepshead Bay and Manhattan Beach), and the Head of Bay area (southeast of JFK),
According to Falt’s presentation, they have managed to analyze the site and define the problems. No developments or physical interventions are set to be carried out yet. Their work has been purely speculative at this point.
The goals of the project will be to reduce vulnerability to storm surge impacts, reduce future flood risk, reduce economic costs and risks posed by major storm events, improve community and infrastructural resiliency, and enhance natural buffers and ecosystems that contribute to a resilient shoreline. The challenges that remain consist of maintaining inlet access, avoiding interference with existing and ongoing recovery and restoration projects, and resisting compromise of the critical habitats of species listed under the Federal or NYS Endangered Species Act.
Elizabeth Jordan, of NYC Parks, shows plans for the Sunset Cove Wetland Restoration and Resiliency Project.Structural, nonstructural, and/or natural or nature based measures may be taken in their yet to be formulated plan. A solution will most likely include aspects from each of these categories. Nonstructural elements would be acquisition, building retrofits, floodplain zoning, and flood warning systems; structural elements might take the form of floodgates, hurricane barriers, levees, floodwalls, bulkheads/ seawalls, and/or breakwaters; natural or nature based features could be living shorelines, wetlands, coastal and maritime forests, reefs, and dunes and beaches. Other potential elements could be swales/channels, floating breakwaters, bay shallowing, storm water improvement, wastewater treatment, park access and recreation, evacuation routes.
From here, The USACE will work to further develop Jamaica Bayalternatives, estimate and factor in real estate and hazardous waste costs, integrate ocean and bay alternatives, define tie in features to existing projects, refine hydrodynamic modeling of Jamaica Bay, improve quantification of environmental effects, collaborate with regulatory agencies to inform environmental thresholds and prioritize analysis, detail and broaden analysis of plan benefits.
Some attendees were unsatisfied with the lack of real progress. “Outside of a little beach replenishment here and a little beach replenishment there, we have nothing,” stated Ida Sanoff, of the Natural Resources Protective Association and Brooklyn Community Board 10.
On Wednesday, April 22, another public community forum geared solely to the Rockaway Reformulation Study will be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall at 333 Beach 90th Street.
But the questions remain, and one wonders how that discussion will differ from the update presented at this meeting, just over a month earlier
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